Captains turned wizards?
by Maverick14th
Summary: Toshiro and Ichigo are sent on a mission to Hogwarts. How will they deal with classes and the Triwizard Tournament? And what is Toshiro feeling for Ichigo? Set post Winter War in Bleach and during the Goblet of Fire in Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

So... This is a new fic I randomly got the idea to do. I've been doing a lot of Harry Potter crossovers but this is mu first time writing a bleach crossover. Hope it isn't utterly terrible.

So this is going to be ToshiroxIchigo. Not sure why since I was never really fond of that pairing but it fits with the story I wanted. Oh well. It won't be super mushy. I doubt it'll even have that much romance in it. Not really any for now, just Toshiro getting flustered.

So there will be some OOCness since I made Ichigo way more serious in this than he usually is, but you'll understand once you read it... w/e

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. enjoy.

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><p>Hitsugaya Toshiro set the stack of papers he had been signing aside and sighed, looking out the window of his office. He couldn't help but feel like Soul Society had changed somehow since the end of the Winter War. It had been fifteen years since.<p>

Fifteen years since Aizen's attempted assault on Soul Society.

Fifteen years since Kurosaki Ichigo had attained the final release form of his Zanpakuto Zangetsu.

Fifteen years since Kurosaki Ichigo had successfully defeated the traitor Aizen.

Fifteen years since Kurosaki Ichigo had died, his body not being able to handle the strain of losing his shinigami powers.

Fifteen years since Kurosaki Ichigo had graduated from the Academy after only a few months attending, only having to learn the techniques he had not already known such as Kido.

Fifteen years since he became the captain of the 5th division captain with absolutely no complaints from any of the existing captains and recommendations from more than the required three.

Fifteen years since he had turned the division around, returning it to its former glory and regaining the former reputation as one of the friendliest divisions with one of the kindest captains, seconded only to 13th division captain Jushiro Ukitake.

The fifth division was now one of the most popular divisions for graduates from the Academy, its captain's reputation only adding to it. The ranks were steadily being refilled, positions left open from the war and those who had followed the previous captain both.

HItsugaya Toshiro couldn't help but feel that Kurosaki had changed since the war, not surprising considering what he had been through plus the fact that he had actually died. He did not visit the world of the Living anymore, his family and friends apart from his father having already grown up and moved on with their lives. Kurosaki remained as he had since he died at the age of sixteen, other than the fact that he had allowed his hair to grow a bit longer and the number of scars on his body increase in number from training. Kurosaki was insistent on his division training constantly, not knowing what the future held and not wishing to risk anymore losses if a new enemy did emerge. Kurosaki was much more serious now than he had been, his experiences and important position changing him into a sterner man who took his responsibilities very serious. He was nowhere near as impulsive as he had been, Toushiro found himself comparing Kurosaki to Kuchiki Byakuya at some times, he was so focused. Kurosaki was stronger than he had been, having fully learning Kido and apparently fully gaining control over his inner hollow, who had apparently remained with him after he died, and training obsessively, working until Hinamori, his fukutaicho, forced him to rest.

There were times when Kurosaki did show his relatively young age, compared to the other captains, talking excitedly about some mission or other that he was to complete. Toshiro found he enjoys these moments the most, he was a bit saddened and the sudden maturity of the Winter War hero, feeling that the boy had grown up much faster than he should have had to. He couldn't deny the odd little thrill that went through him when he saw the intense look of determination and strength in Kurosaki's eyes when he had an important mission however and it made Toshiro unsettled, he did not know where these feelings for the orange haired captain had sprung up from and wasn't sure he wanted to explore them. Matsumoto somehow noticed how awkward he was at times when Kurosaki-taicho and pestered him to fess up but he had brushed her off, telling her there was nothing to admit and to get back to work.

He sighed as he leant back in his chair, enjoying the small breeze that flowed in from the open window. His peace was immediately disrupted by the loud entrance of his fukutaicho Matsumoto as she bounded in from the hall, "Taichooooo!" Hitsugaya immediately dodged back, narrowly avoiding her attempt at suffocating him in her immense cleavage. She pouted immediately, "Aww, you're no fun.. I guess you don't need this new mission then?" she waved a cream file folder in front of him and he snatched it from her.

"What is this?" he demanded, scowling up at her until she sat, bringing their eyes to the same level.

She waved a hand at him, "It's your new mission silly. Soutaicho requested that I deliver it to you. You're apparently leaving soon, after the mission briefing with Soutaicho and your partner."

Hitsugaya had already gotten up and reached the door when he stopped. "Partner?"

"Yep, apparently Soutaicho thought it would be better to send two captains, since it was of some sort of diplomatic importance." Hitsugaya scowled and made his way towards the first division barracks, leafing through the papers in the folder as he went. The contents just made him more confused, they didn't seem to make any sense, he could only tell for certain that the mission would involve leaving Japan which he wasn't very keen on, he couldn't speak anything but Japanese.

He arrived at the barracks and was escorted to the Soutaicho's office by the lieutenant. Soutaicho Yamamoto looked up as he entered, welcoming him with a small bow which he returned. "We are just waiting for your companion and then we can begin."

Toshiro was about to ask who his partner would be when the doors opened behind him, revealing the distinctive orange hair of Kurosaki Ichigo. Ichigo walked up to stand next to Toshiro and greeted him warmly before turning to Yamamoto. "You wanted to see me Soutaicho?"

"Yes, I have a mission for you and Hitsugaya-taicho. It is a particularly long mission so I thought it best to brief you together."

Ichigo tilted his head to the side a bit, his eyebrows furrowed, "A long mission? How long are we talking about? Who will take charge of our divisions while we are gone?"

"Your vice captains will cover for you for the next year, we will make arrangements so that you will be able to return to Soul Society if necessary."

Toshiro felt his eyes widen, "A year? What sort of mission requires our presence for an entire year?" He could see Ichigo nod in agreement next to him.

"It will be a mission at a school in England. It is a specialized school for the education of gifted children and the school headmaster has requested protection for the year, there is some sort of event happening that requires extra protection as there has been an increase in hollow activity around the school."

"A school? What kind of school asks Soul Society for help? How do they even know about Soul Society." He looked doubtful and Toshiro agreed with him. The Living World should not know about the presence of shinigamis.

"It is a school for the magically gifted. Their own society is hidden from normal humans, muggles they call them, but their magic is not effective against hollows it seems. The Soul Society in Europe does not have the manpower required of the mission so it was transferred to us."

"Wait," Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose, "So you are telling me that some school in Europe teaches kids magic? Like card tricks? And they need protection from us?"

"Not card tricks, they earn offensive and defensive magic, along with other such things about magical devices and the like. They train wizards and witches and they need our assistance. Do you accept the mission or will I need to find two other captains to take your place?"

"Wizards huh?" Ichigo looked interested but still a bit skeptical. "Wait, how will we go to this school? We aren't wizards, we probably can't even do magic."

Yamamoto shook his head, "You both can do magic, I am certain of it. The qualities that wizards and witches posses are much like reiatsu. You will have no trouble. You will just have to go there and catch up with the rest of the students."

"Catch up?" Toshiro wasn't so sure what he meant by that.

"There are seven years of classes at the school, Hogwarts it's called. You will be transferring into the fourth year class as transfer students from a Japanese magic school. You are to attend classes as well as patrol the grounds for threats and intruders. The headmaster of the school, Dumbledore Albus, has also requested that you keep a closer eye on a certain fourth year student named Potter Harry, it seems he has a habit of getting in to danger and he wants to prevent it from happening again."

"So we're playing bodyguard. Will there be anyone who knows why we are there?" Ichigo had a glint in his eyes, he was hooked.

Yamamoto nodded, "The Headmaster will of course know, he might decide to inform some of the teachers at the school but I would advise not telling any of the students. Especially this Potter boy, he would not likely make it easy for you to protect him if he knew your intentions."

"Alright, when do we leave?" Ichigo apparently didn't need to look at Toshiro to know that he was also interested.

"You will leave tomorrow, opening a Senkaimon to a secure location in England and spending the next few months at an inn called the Leaky Cauldron. You will be able to get to a wizarding shopping district from there called Diagon Alley. You will spend the months before school starts on September first studying and practicing your magic so that you are not behind the other students. You will receive your materials to prepare for the mission from Urahara, he has a few devices that will prove useful during your trip. Good luck on your mission and I will hear from you in a few weeks."

Ichigo and Toshiro bowed and left the office, heading out of the barracks. Ichigo paused before making his way towards his own barracks to speak, "This seems like it will be fun don't you think Hitsugaya-taicho? Looking forward to working with you." He flashed a smile, not even waiting for his response before pivoting on his heel and heading for the Fifth division.

Toshiro stared after him, slightly dazzled by that smile, Kurosaki barely smiled so wide nowadays and it left him more than a bit flustered. _Yeah, fun is right. We'll see._

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><p>So yeah, I'm making Ichigo and Toshiro go to Hogwarts. Original I know but its JUST them. I'll try to make it not terrible.<p>

Not really sure what I'm going to do for the next chapter. The idea is fresh in my head right now so I might update pretty soon but I dunno. I don't plan out my updates.

Hope you didn't hate it. Review please? Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

So I did end up finishing the new chapter quicker than I expected. I guess because I haven't written anything new in a while and I'm just on a roll right now.

You might have a new chapter by the end of today or tomorrow, who knows. All I know is that I really like this story so its easier for me right now. Let's see how long it lasts.

This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, my chapters don't tend to be over 5,000 words so if you don't like short chapters I'm sorry, mine are usually around 3,000.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. Hope you like this chapter.

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><p>Toshiro entered his office for the second time that day and collapsed in his chair. Matsumoto looked at him in interest as the small captain went through his mission file one more time, now that he had more information about the mission details.<p>

"So who is your partner for the mission?" Matsumoto asked, she already knew her captain would be away for the year but hadn't been told much more than that. She wasn't looking forward to being in charge for so long but the mission was apparently very important so she couldn't complain.

"That's what you want to know?" he asked irritably, which only piqued her interest even more. She kept staring at him until he sighed and grumbled, "Kurosaki-taicho." He flinched at her squeal of delight and started going through his desk, organizing it so that it wouldn't be so messy when he returned.

"That's great! You can hang out with Ichigo again. Your crush!" She sneaked a look at him and he was scowling.

"I do not have a crush on him!" His cheeks dusted with an obvious pink, proving how true that statement was. As she babbled on, talking about how they could go on dates and help each other with their school work he continued straightening his desk up before he stood to go to his quarters and pack.

He stopped just as he was about to leave when Matsumoto murmured quietly, "I hope none of the girls at the school try and snatch him up, he is handsome enough for it. Not enough for my tastes of course, plus he is way too young for me, but human girls might try.." Toshiro had to admit she had a point, Ichigo was definitely above average when it came to looks; his orange hair was spiky and edgy, he was tall and lean, long limbs covered in lean but very strong muscle, his skin was smooth where there weren't scars and permanently tanned, his face strong boned and his tea brown eyes soft. He would definitely attract some attention but Toshiro was sure Ichigo wouldn't encourage it, he _was_ twice the age of even the oldest students, even if he didn't look it. "He's too old for them." Was all he said before leaving for his quarters, ignoring the amused look on Matsumoto's face as he left.

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><p>Toshiro left his quarters the next morning to see Ichigo leaning against the building waiting for him, a small suitcase in his hand. They had been told to only bring a few clothes since they would be purchasing uniforms at Diagon Alley and a few sets of the clothing normally worn in England. They nodded to each other and Ichigo took out Zangestsu and stabbed it into the open air, turning it to the side and then back, opening a Senkaimon to Urahara's store in Karakura Town. The pair walked through the sliding doors and entered the Living World. Ichigo paused for a moment, glancing around him briefly before continuing to knock on the candy store door, this was not his home anymore, not since his death.<p>

The door slid open immediately and Urahara gestured for them to enter. "I'm sure you know why you're here then?" they nodded. "Good. I have a few things for you to make it easier for you in England." He handed them both black wristbands with the Gotei 13 symbol on it. "These are your translators and reiatsu suppressors. You can still release reiatsu while they are on but it will not be at full force, they are more so that you do not need to pay constant attention to keeping your reiatsu under control. You can take them off to hold private conversations in Japanese but you will not be able to understand English or speak it if you aren't wearing them." Next he gestured to the two trunks Tessai had pulled out from a cupboard, "These will be your trunks for the school year. They have been made so that no one but a Soul Reaper can open them. They are also resistant to magic so they cannot be forced open."

He pulled out two envelopes and a slip of paper with a small key taped to it. He handed them each an envelope and the paper with the key to Ichigo, "Those are your acceptance letters with the material lists for the year, yours include the books for the past years that you will also have to study. The paper is a signature for a bank account at Gringotts Wizard Bank in Diagon Alley. You will need the slip and the key to withdraw money from the account. It is a personal account that was made by the Soutaicho and has more than enough money in it for the year, take as much as you wish but be sure to return any extra at the end of the year." He handed them their gigais which they took and pocketed the soul candy he handed each of them, Ichigo had changed to the usual soul candy after Kon had managed to break himself beyond repair. "It is too bad that I cannot join you, the wizard world seems like a very interesting place, but I must take care of my shop. Make sure you buy an owl that can fly distances to send reports!" Were his last words as the two captains left the shop, pulling their wheeled trunks behind them.

Ichigo opened another Senkaimon, this time using the coordinates Yamamoto had given them and found themselves in an alley. They walked out of the alley and looked around, seeing a worn sign reading The Leaky Cauldron. They put on the wristbands and entered their gigais and walked in, looking around in the dim lighting. The few customers sitting at tables looked at them curiously as they made their way over to the man behind the counter, "Excuse me?" Ichigo asked, figuring it might look a bit strange for the smaller captain to ask.

The man turned around and took stock of them, their unfamiliar clothing and young appearances. "Yes? Can I help you?" He wasn't sure who these kids were but they weren't from around here, that was for sure.

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, we need to get to Diagon Alley. Do you know how? We were just told to come here to get there but it's our first time in England so we weren't sure where to go." Ichigo plastered on a slightly embarrassed look and scratched the back of his head.

The man nodded, that made sense, "Never been to England? Where are you boys from then? And how did you know to come here?"

"We're from Japan. We are attending Hogwarts in the fall as transfer students. Our headmaster told us to come here to get to Diagon Alley but we don't have our wands yet so we weren't sure what to do." Toshiro let Ichigo handle the man, he was always better with people than he was but he was younger so he guessed that was to be expected.

The man nodded. "Ah, transfers eh? That's a first. Well I'm Tom and I'd be glad to let you into Diagon Alley. Why don't you have your wands, you are in wizard school aren't you?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Our magic works different. We use a more raw form of magic than you do here. That's why we are studying here for a year, trying to figure out if there are ways to make our teaching methods better. Raw magic is tricky, dangerous stuff. You know what I mean?"

Tom nodded as he walked around from behind the bar and led them out a back door. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Raw magic is nasty, difficult to handle. Surprised you boys can handle it, especially the little one, he hardly looks old enough to be doing any very dangerous stuff."

Ichigo placed a calming hand on Toshiro's shoulder just as he was about to yell at the man. He wasn't a child but he looked like one so everyone treated him as such and it irritated him immensely. Ichigo knew how he felt but he didn't need the smaller captain blowing up at the man whose help they needed.

They watched carefully as the man opened the entrance to Diagon Alley, in case they would have to come back on their own later. They walked in and immediately spotted the leaning form of Gringotts Wizard Bank, making their way over to it while trying not to stare at everything and stop themselves from glaring at the people who were staring at them as they passed.

They entered the bank and made for the first open teller they saw, trying to stare rudely at the strange creatures that seemed to work the banks. The one at the booth they had approached looked up and narrowed its eyes at them before asking, "Yes?"

"We wish to make a withdrawal from vault 510." Ichigo's voice was perfectly even, hiding the slight discomfort he felt when faced with these strange creatures.

It turned its gaze on Ichigo, "Do you have signed permission and your key?"

Ichigo nodded and took out the parchment and the little gold key. It nodded and called over another creature to take them to their vault. They followed it at a slight distance, attention focused on it in case it tried something, they weren't sure how things acted in the wizard world but they weren't taking any chances.

"You don't have to be so on guard Reapers," the rough voice of their guide broke the silence and the shinigamis had to prevent themselves from falling into a defensive crouch. "You have nothing to fear from us as long as you do not intend to steal any of our gold. As long as you take gold only from your own vault there will be no problems. Your presence makes us uneasy as well, how would you feel if you had death gods suddenly enter your establishment?" it chuckled a bit nervously but then stopped in front of a stone door with the number 510 on it and held a hand out for the key. Ichigo handed it to him, he thought it was male, and tried to relax his muscles, figuring that they were as afraid of them if not more.

Ichigo and Toshiro entered the vault and gaped at the pile of coins sitting the middle of the room. They each grabbed a large handful each, Toshiro had to use two hands since his were smaller, and they each pocketed close to a hundred coins, not sure how much they would need. They exited the vault and followed the creature back to the main room, receiving the key and telling the little creature, "We'll bring back any that we don't use at the end of the year," before exiting the bank, not noticing the collective sigh of relief from the goblins.

"So where should we go first?" Ichigo turned to ask Toshiro after they had moved away from the door to the bank. The white haired captain glanced around and then down at the list of necessary materials in his hand.

"Let's go get our wands. Then we'll get our books and then we'll head back to the inn. We don't really need any of the other things until right before school starts, we can always come back later."

Ichigo nodded and looked around, taking advantage of his height and spotting a store with wands in the shop window. He lead the way over and read the sign, Ollivander's. The pair entered the shop, the bell on the door ringing, and looked around the dusty shop. There were shelves and shelves of small boxes taking up almost all of the floor space. There was a sudden movement behind the counter and Ichigo instantly swung out at it, it was instinctual, and luckily the old man who had been behind the desk had fallen back in surprise so it was only the counter he hit, splitting the top board and reaching the second shelf in the desk. He blinked before pulling his arm back, his fist only slightly scuffed from the blow, and looked over the counter at the man who was just now picking himself up off the floor. "Sorry about that but I tend to react based solely on my instincts and since you didn't come out immediately I just swung out. You alright?"

The man nodded, if a bit shakily, as Toshiro smacked Ichigo on the arm. "Y-yes, I'm quite alright. I must say, that is the most drastic reaction I have had from a customer. Especially from one so young."

Ichigo stiffened, "I'm not that young."

Ollivander simply nodded, "Yes, yes. But you are younger than your companion." They both stared at him, wondering how he knew. "I am a wand maker boys, I am much more in tune with nature than most wizards. Do not worry, most will never suspect what you are. Your secret is safe with me. Now shall we get to the wands? Who would like to go first?"

They glanced at each other, still not sure what to think about this strange man but finally Toshiro walked forward. Ollivander walked along one of the aisles and pulled out a box, offering the light red wand to Toshiro. He took it and waved it, shattering a vase sitting a few feet away. Ollivander took it back and got another, this repeated for a few more wands until Ollivander handed Toshiro a pale brown wand that appeared to have scales. When he held the wand a cold breeze blew through the room, surrounding Toshiro as the wand gave off dark blue sparks. "Ah, thought so. Maple, unicorn hair core, nine inches, springy, good for charms."

He turned to Ichigo who was looking around at all the damage Toshiro's unfit wands had caused and watched as Ollivander waved his wand, instantly repairing all the damage. He raised an eyebrow at the old man who was inspecting him with a scowl, "You will be a tricky one. Very curious." He kept muttering how it was curious as he brought Ichigo the first wand, it destroyed the table the vase had been sitting on, the next few were the same. Ichigo counted a dozen wands before Ollivander brought a very dusty box from one of the back shelves, handing it to him almost as if he was afraid of the result. The wand immediately bled black and red flames and moved through the air around Ichigo who just grinned down at the wand. It felt nostalgic, almost as good as holding Zangestsu. "Curious. Very curious. That is one of the strongest wands my family has made, my great grandfather made it, using ebony, thirteen inches, thestral hair core, unyielding, good for any offensive magic. Thestral hair core wands are not common, they are unstable and need an incredibly powerful wizard to wield them. I look forward to seeing more from you young sir." Ichigo gazed down at his wand, the pitch black wood only interrupted by the red and silver streaks going along it lengthwise. They paid the man and left, heading to the book store to get their textbooks, ignoring the strange look the man gave them when they bought books from the past three years of school. Luckily they only had to buy the books from the classes that carried on from the past years so that lessened their workload but they would still have a busy few weeks ahead of them.

_Here we go… _

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><p>So... Like it? Hope so. I'm actually pretty happy with this. Can't wait till they get to Hogwarts, I'm so gonna have Ichigo torment the Slytherins. Don't worry it won't be in the next chapter, that's way too fast. Next chapter will be them studying as soon as I figure out what to make them good at.<p>

I used the wand woods on the harry potter wiki and found out when I clicked on the woods I chose that they were actually the traits I wanted. Win for me! Unintentional but still! A win is a win. I was proud of myself for a bit.

So... Review please? I know I probably made Ichigo hotter than he usual is but I find him hot so I made him hot. He's way hotter now than he was at the beginning of Bleach. I don't see why more girls don't like him. w/e. Tell me what you think, if you want. Peace.


	3. Chapter 3

Soo... I'm awesome. Yep. 3 chapters in one day? Not even a whole day? Yeah, I think that equals awesomeness.

Hope you like it.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter

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><p>Ichigo set the Defense Against the Dark Arts book he had been studying down carefully before throwing himself backwards to sprawl out on the floor. He glanced at Toshiro to see he was buried in his Charms textbook and looked like he wasn't likely to put it down any time soon. It had been a full months since they had first arrived in England and there were two days until other students would be staying at the inn the night before the train left for the start of semester. Ichigo and Toshiro had gone through all of their textbooks every day, moving steadily from the first year subject all the way to the third years. They had studied for hours on end every day, breaking for meals and not much else for the past months and he was getting tired of it.<p>

Toshiro glanced up at Ichigo curiously to see that his book, the third year textbook, was opened to the very last page with Ichigo's wand placed in the center to keep it open. Toshiro was considered a genius from when he had been in the Academy but he remembered hearing that Ichigo was also very smart, he _had_ graduated in six months despite the large number of classes he had to take. Ichigo was apparently very quick at learning and could learn by practicing things a few times and once he had it down he wouldn't forget, which was also what had enabled him to learn bankai in three days instead of several years. Toshiro had to hand it to the younger captain, when he wanted to learn something; he put his full effort into it until he got it.

Ichigo was definitely a force to be reckoned with in DADA but he couldn't perform charms as well as Toshiro, and his Potions work still needed some improvement. They were about even in the other classes, though Ichigo was better at Care of Magical Creatures, he had been the one to figure out how to keep the book from trying to eat his face and then proceeded to tear through the information like a forest fire. He just ate it up which surprised Toshiro, Ichigo never seemed like someone who liked animals to him, a notion he immediately displaced when Ichigo had dragged him all over the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley until they had settled on a strong black and silver owl that was capable of flying all the way to Japan without difficulty. He gushed over the bird the whole way to the inn and the bird seemed to enjoy every minute of it, not trying to bite at all even though it had been snapping at the shopkeeper the whole time, it was perfectly well behaved for Ichigo and had taken one look at Toshiro and apparently decided to not upset him. But the creature obviously adored Ichigo, perching on his shoulder as he studied and making soothing noises as the shinigami ran his fingers through its feathers absently. He had named the bird Kuro, super original, he knew, but he didn't really care, he said the bird didn't care what he called it and Toshiro finally gave up arguing about it since it really didn't matter.

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><p>They spent their last two days simply lazing around their shared room, taking a walk around London to stretch their legs and just to get out of that damn room. They had gone shopping months ago, a few days after they had first arrived, figuring they stuck out enough as is without wearing foreign clothing. It had been a while since either of them had worn human clothing and they couldn't help but notice how tight it was compared to their hakamas but they figured they would have to get used to it, Hogwarts wore uniforms that were sure to be less comfortable than casual clothes. They both had several sets of clothes, mainly pants and various shirts since it wasn't that warm so there was no need to buy summer clothes, they both favored jeans, Toshiro's tending to be dark and Ichigo's more ripped and lighter, Ichigo liked graphic tees and long sleeves where as Toshiro preferred polos and looser short sleeved shirts, considering that he was more comfortable at colder temperatures than most people.<p>

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><p>They woke up later than usual on the last day of August to loud voices coming from the common room of the inn. The captains dragged themselves out of their beds, figuring from the volume that whoever was being so loud was not likely to be quiet anytime soon, and dressed for the day. They slipped on their translator bands and packed up the books they had left scattered across the floor from a late night study session. They grabbed only their wands and the soft leather bags holding their money and stashed them away on their persons, the wands hidden in an easy to reach place that still did not impede their movement and the coin pouch going in a jean pocket. They stalked downstairs to get their breakfast and find the source of the rude noise and possibly, to silence it when they did. They paused briefly at the top of the stairs, doing a quick sweep of the faces of the room's occupants. It wasn't hard to pinpoint to source of the noise, a group of people all with the same red hair with only two different hair colors, a black haired boy with glasses and a frizzy haired girl with brown hair.<p>

"Do you think you could be quieter?" Ichigo snarled at the group, his deep voice easily carrying across the room. "People are _trying_ to sleep." The group, (family?) they looked alike enough paused midsentence to turn and stare at him. He just scowled at them and continued down the stairs, ignoring them and heading to Tom who had noticed the foreign boys and already had their breakfasts ready for them. Ichigo flipped the innkeeper a few copper pieces and took his food, settling at a table where he could face away from the family group and eat in peace, Toshiro sitting across from him with his own food. "you'd think wizards with purer blood would have better manners," he grumbled to Toshiro, who nodded.

"How do you know we're purer bloods?" The youngest boy from the family asked, apparently they had heard him.

Ichigo turned slowly and fixed him with a look full of contempt, "_Please_, you and your entire family is in the inn, that means you are all wizards. Anyone who's entire family is a witch or wizard is clearly of purer blood. The only two who aren't are them," he pointed his fork at the black haired boy and the frizzy haired girl. "They are here alone, meaning that either they don't have parents, or their parents are muggles and can therefore not see this place in the first place. Seriously, and you're supposed to be a student? What are they teaching children these days?" The last question was directed at Toshiro who just shrugged, before they both returned to their meals.

He could tell they were all floored, just enforcing what Ichigo thought of their education. He ignored them, even when they began to whisper to each other about him, clearly not whispering quietly enough since he could hear every word. He just finished his food and, seeing that Toshiro was done as well, they got up and made their way to the back door. The other group followed them, of course going to Diagon Alley as well and there wasn't much point in opening the Alley multiple times when there wasn't a need to. Ichigo opened the Alley smoothly, despite only having seen Tom do it the one time, and he and Toshiro entered the Alley.

They headed to the robes maker first, figuring that it would be a while until they were done. The shop lady was a bit confused when they both ordered Hogwarts robes, questioning why Ichigo needed them since he was clearly older. She shut up after Toshiro hissed that they were transfers into the _fourth year_ class. The room had chilled for a few seconds until she squeaked out an apology and simply measured them. They would be back to pick them up in an hour when they were done, going around to the other shops getting the rest of their supplies while they waited. They shrunk all of their purchases down, putting them in their pockets and returned to the robe shop to pick up and pay for their robes. Their tasks finally finished they made their way back to the inn to put away their things in their trunks before they misplaced. The robes took up the most space but considering they didn't have much in them before hand everything fit fine. They took their lunch in the common room before returning to their rooms, figuring one more study session wouldn't hurt. They looked through the books for this year, already mastering some of the easier spells so they wouldn't have to worry about being behind the others, if they were ahead of their classes then good, they wouldn't have as much work to do when they started patrolling.

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><p>They realized that it was late and got their dinner, ignoring the curious looks from the family group from earlier while the frizzy haired girl tried to prevent the black haired boy and the red head her age from staring while she snuck glances herself. They returned to the room to see that Kuro had apparently been busy, there lay two envelopes sitting on their beds. They opened them and read through the looping wording with ease. It was a simple welcome and reminder that they were to take the train tomorrow, it would leave at 11 sharp, and that they would be introduced after the first year students. There were also permission slips for trips to some place called Hogsmeade. They retrieved their quills and ink from their trunks and easily scrawled a signature, Ichigo easily faking his father's and Toshiro just making up a first name while making sure to sign in a different style than he used. There was no way for them to trace either of their signatures and they only signed them to seem more like normal students, there was no way the school could deny them access off the grounds since they would be protecting the school and would do whatever it took to do so, whether they had to break a few rules or not. They rolled up the slips of parchment when the ink had dried and put them with their things before turning in for the night.<p>

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><p>They woke up at exactly nine thirty, giving them a full hour and a half before the train left. They dressed for the day in simple clothes, Ichigo wearing a graphic tee with a black long sleeved shirt underneath and bleached skinny jeans, Toshiro wearing black jeans and a dark blue and black polo. They packed everything but their money and their wands into their trunks and Ichigo put Kuro in his cage so they could take him with. They headed down for a quick breakfast before retrieving their trunks and thanking Tom, giving him a tip for being so nice to them and letting them stay for so long. He invited them back any time they wanted and they headed out, getting in the taxi they had ordered last night. They paid the cabbie and made their way through the station, following the feeling of reiatsu that was the rift allowing magic users on to the platform. They did not hesitate, waking through the rift at a leisurely stroll and making sure the other was there before heading on to the train. It was a nice train, an old styled steam engine painted black and red, it looked brand new. They walked down the aisle, looking for a somewhat empty compartment, ignoring the weird looks they got. They finally reached one where the frizzy haired girl, black haired boy and the youngest redhead sat. "Can we join you? Everywhere else is full." The trio nodded dumbly and the captains put their trunks on the overhead shelf, Ichigo taking his because he couldn't reach before sitting down, across from the three, the girl had moved to sit on the other side.<p>

"So I'm Ichigo Kurasaki, Japanese transfer student. Nice to meet you I suppose." Ichigo drawled, not really caring.

Toshiro punched him on the shoulder. "Be polite Kurosaki." He turned to the trio who were looking at him mainly because they just didn't want to look at Ichigo, who was scowling again, "I'm Toshiro HItsugaya. Japanese transfer student."

The girl seemed to perk up at that, deciding that Toshiro would likely be a safer choice for conversation that Ichigo, "transfers? We've never had transfer students before. What's your school like? Is it as big as Hogwarts? What kind of magic do you do? Will you teach me some? How old are you? Which year are you joining? Have you been studying magic long? How-"

Toshiro finally managed to cut off the seemingly endless flow of questions with a raised hand. He rubbed his forehead, not even eleven and he was already getting a headache, this did not bode well for the rest of the ride. "Do you ever let anyone answer when you interrogate them? How do you expect to learn anything if you never let anyone else speak? Seriously. Ask me the questions again, one at a time and slower."

She had the grace to flush in embarrassment while the two boys looked impressed that he had stopped her. "So what is your school like? Is it big?"

"It is much smaller than your school and is more specialized. There are levels of advancement that need to be met before a student can move on to the next year. Most lessons and tests are practicals. Next question."

"What kind of magic do you do?"

"Different than yours. Our magic is of two types, offensive and defensive. Those are the only two and there are many different levels of how strong each spell is. Our spells are organized by number, the higher the number, the more powerful the spell. Our spells are also done using a more raw form of magic than what you all use, it is harder to do and more dangerous. Ando no, before you ask, I will not teach you any, it's too dangerous for you. Next question."

The red head seemed to take offense at this, "Too dangerous? It can't be worse than charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

Toshiro leveled his teal eyes on the boy, "With our magic, if you do a higher level spell wrong, you can lose your life. Raw magic is infinitely more difficult than yours. With your magic you have a median to translate your magic, your wands, with ours we do not have anything to control it. We use only our minds to keep control over the raw power, if you mess it up, there can be serious consequences." The red haired boy withdrew a bit, unnerved by the coldness in those eyes. "Next question."

"How old are you? Which year are you joining?"

Toshiro glanced at Ichigo who just shrugged, they had decided on their stories ahead of time so they matched up, "I am fourteen and Ichigo is seventeen. We are both joining the fourth year class because that is what was decided. Our education is on the same level despite the differences in our ages. Next question."

The girl stared at him for a bit, Toshiro looked like he was eleven or twelve but there was that immense intellect in his eyes that betrayed his age, they both had strange eyes, looking much older than they appeared. "Have you studied magic long?"

Toshiro tapped his chin, as if in thought, before answering, "I suppose so. I've been learning magic since I was eleven, same as you, Ichigo started when he was fourteen. He started later so we're around the same level at the moment, although we're both apparently fast learners. Is that it? Because I'd like to take a nap, this train ride is going to be long." As he finished the whistle blew and the train set off. Toshiro didn't wait for her answer, simply settling back in his seat and leaning against Ichigo's side, Ichigo was already asleep and just shifted a bit to accommodate the smaller body.

Hermione just looked at her friends, none of them knew quite what to think of the apparent transfers, other than the older boy looked mean and the younger had scary eyes. This was going to be an interesting year.

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><p>So... at first I made Ichigo more serious, but now I'm making him loosen up. I guess. That's my excuse. I enjoy this. I might even have another chapter done soon but probably not tonight because its already 2 in the morning and I have a test at 8:30.<p>

Review please? I don't know if I'll get it cuz is being fucked up and not emailing me but I dunno... w/e. Review anyways!


	4. Chapter 4

New chapter! Yay me. Might have the next chapter done sometime tonight or tomorrow. I don't really know why this is coming so easily for me but its not a bad thing I suppose.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love you all!

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter

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><p>The train ride was going well for the most part, the Golden trio would glance over at the transfer students every now and then to see if they were listening to their conversation but they were sound asleep. Toshiro twitched when the door to the compartment opened to reveal Malfoy, complete with meat head henchmen and sneer already fixed on his face.<p>

He looked around the compartment and immediately fixed on the distinctive hair of the transfers. "Well well well, who do we have here? A bleached first year brat and another Weasley? I thought there were only seven of you, where did another pop up from. And he looks older, where _did_ he come from?"

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry demanded, he didn't need Malfoy this early in the school year.

"Why I was just coming to greet the new students. There was a lot of talk about the new freaks of the school, lucky you Potter, you get some more friends." The blond sneered, enjoying the anger of the Griffindor when he noticed that the compartment suddenly felt colder. The temperature continued to drop; it got so low that the students could see their breaths and the window began to freeze over. A breeze came from nowhere and swirled around the white haired boy, actual snowflakes in the air now. The students shivered as they notice frost begin to form around Toshiro's feet as the boy sat up, opening large, piercing teal eyes and fixing them on Malfoy. Malfoy felt somehow even colder when he looked into the boy's eyes and the boy's eyes narrowed, snowy brows furrowing as his companion stirred.

"Are you quite done Toshiro? I rather liked how the temperature was before the brat pissed you off." Ichigo rumbled, opening brown eyes and setting them on Malfoy as well.

"He called us freaks Ichigo. I think I'm entitled to losing my temper slightly." Toshiro answered, almost growling.

Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah I guess you're right. I think it's a good thing we have these limiters on, if we didn't you might have frozen the whole train. And then how would we explain ourselves? Sorry Toshiro froze your train but a greasy brat pissed him off. Yeah that'd go over _so_ well." Ichigo chuckled to himself, as if he had made a joke.

"He insulted you too you know. Called you a freak, some bastard son of the redheaded kid over there." He pointed at Ron without looking, his cool teal eyes still fixed on Malfoy, who felt a bit better when the temperature rose a bit.

"What?" Now Ichigo was pissed. He growled at the blond. "How the hell am I related to _him_? We look _nothing_ alike. Our hair color isn't even that close. You are a stupid brat if you think everyone with similar hair colors are related. I'm not even from the damn country so how could I be related to him?"

Malfoy had apparently decided that he was insulted, the new kid had called him stupid and a brat! He was a Malfoy! A pureblood! He scowled, feeling better now that the white haired kid had turned away from him. "How dare you! I'm a pureblood! How dare you call me a brat!" He gestured for Crabbe and Goyle to go ahead and moved behind them. He was expecting the orange haired kid to look afraid, nervous even. He wasn't expecting the boy to grin like a wolf and stand, easily towering over the thicker set boys. He reached forward in an instant and cracked their heads together. He threw them out of the compartment with ease and grabbed Malfoy by the front of his shirt, hauling him off his feet, "Now you see here, _brat._ I don't give a shit whether you're a pureblood or a fucking mudblood. You act like a brat, so you are a brat. It's as easy as that. Now get out of my fucking sight before I do to you what I did to your little grunts." He actually tossed him a few feet before re-entering the compartment and slamming the door shut.

He looked around at their faces, Toshiro perfectly calm but the trio were shell shocked, "Well that's taken care of. Now it's finally quiet again. So, I just realized that I don't know your names. We told you ours but you didn't introduce yourselves, that's kinda rude don't you think?"

Toshiro shook his head but did agree with his fellow captain, they hadn't. He looked at them expectantly and saw that they were blushing in embarrassment.

The bushy haired girl, obvious their spokesperson, cleared her throat, "I'm Hermione Granger, it's very nice to meet you. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier."

The redhead was next. "Um, I'm Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you, I guess." Hermione looked disapproving at how he mumbled the last bit but didn't correct him on it.

The black haired boy seemed surprised that they were waiting for him to introduce himself as well, as if he wasn't used to having to introduce himself, "I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you two."

He looked like he was waiting for some sort of reaction but the transfers jut nodded when he was done and settled back to take another nap, since their last one had been interrupted. Ichigo noticed they were staring at them in shock, "What?" He was getting really tired of people staring at him all the time.

The redhead, Ron, looked like he couldn't believe it, whatever it was, "You didn't respond."

"Respond to what?" Seriously the English were so dramatic about everything. "it's just your names."

"He's Harry Potter!" Emphasizing the name as if it was something important.

"Yes, that is his name. What about it?" He was getting tired of the dramatics.

"It doesn't mean anything to you?" Hermione seemed very interested in this.

"Is it supposed to?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow, these people were so weird.

Ron looked like he wanted to beat some sense into him but, considering he had just seen the older boy beat up Malfoy's guards with ease, he wasn't going near him, "Yeah!" Like it should be obvious. "He's famous!"

Ichigo scoffed. "Famous? Yeah right. He's fourteen, what the hell could he be famous for?"

The three looked like they could not believe what they were hearing, "He survived the killing curse! He survived and attack from you-know-who." Ron whispered the last bit, like something bad would happen if he said it louder.

"You-know-who?" He screwed his eyebrows together like he was trying to think. "Oh, you mean Voldemort? I don't see why you're all so afraid of him. He wouldn't last a minute in a fight in Japan. He seems like a wimp to me. I bet I could take him, easy."

_Now_ they looked like they couldn't believe their ears. "You couldn't 'take' him! You're a student! He's a Dark Lord! It's impossible!"

Toshiro looked up, bored look on his face, "Dark Lord? Is that what they call wizards who use dark magic?" at their nod he continued, "Then Ichigo technically is one too. He found some Dark magic books at some store in a dark corridor. He wouldn't put it down until he memorized it, isn't that right Ichigo?"

Ichigo nodded, grinning, "Yeah. It's way better than the textbooks you guys use. Light magic is so lame, I mean seriously, _tickling charms_? What are you? Five? Be real. What the hell can you fight off by tickling? Dark magic is way more useful. You can actually do some real damage with it. It's _almost_ as good as some of the higher level Hado but I decided to take what I could get, your magic is weak compared to ours. It's kind of sad really; no wonder you can't just kill him already. If you got over your stupid fear that every Dark wizard is going to join Voldemort and kill people and actually worked _with_ them instead of ostracizing them, you might actually get somewhere."

The trio was still staring at him, wondering how a fourth year student was also a Dark wizard which usually required several extra years of personal study.

Toshiro cleared his throat, deciding to take some of the attention off Ichigo before he snapped, "Ichigo is also a sort of hero in Japan. He took down a really powerful 'wizard' a few years ago. This wizard would've eaten your Voldemort for breakfast, hell, some of his soldiers could have beaten Voldemort, that's how strong he was. Ichigo is a really strong wizard at home, he's one of the strongest is not _the _strongest wizard. We're just here for some research to find out if we can fine tune our teaching methods to make them more efficient and less dangerous." And with that the pair leant back in their seats and promptly fell asleep.

The Golden Trio were still staring at the transfers. Every time they opened their mouths, they made less sense. A student who was also a Dark wizard? A student who beat someone worse than Voldemort? An enemy whose subordinates were so strong _they_ could have beaten Voldemort? And the person who beat him was in their fourth year classes? This just didn't make any sense. They decided to leave their questions for another time, leaving the boys to sleep until they arrived.

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><p>The train arrived without any further incidents, Toshiro and Ichigo following the other students off the train, leaving their trunks on the train as they were told. The transfers separated from the previous students, heading instead towards the lake where an older woman with a serious expression and dark green robes was waiting. They passed the new students, who flinched if they met eyes with either of the boys, stopping in front of the woman.<p>

"I take it you are the transfers from Japan?" She asked. At their nod she nodded back, "I am Professor McGonagall, if you would follow me?" The last bit was addressed to all of the waiting students as they loaded into the boats, Toshiro and Ichigo riding with McGonagall since the younger kids looked terrified of them. She led them up the stairs of the castle, pausing briefly for those who had stopped to gape at the castle, before herding them into the entryway. "Now would the first years follow me please? You will be sorted in to your houses now." She turned briefly to the transfers, "You two are to wait until the Headmaster makes an announcement about your presence. You may come in when he calls for you, until then please wait outside the Great Hall." They just nodded to her and she swept into the Hall, opening the doors in a way that hid the transfers, and led the first years down the aisle.

Ichigo wasn't sure what to think of their main room, the floating candles were a bit strange, plus the fact that there didn't seem to be ceiling but he remembered reading some book Toshiro had bought, Hogwarts: A History, it was called that said the ceiling was enchanted to show the weather outside. _I thought that's what windows were for. These wizards do tend to have a lot of useless magics, such a waste._ Then the wrinkled hat sitting on a stool started singing, he wasn't sure what to think of that, other than the desire to see if it was actually living or not. No one else seemed surprised so Ichigo figured this was normal for them, still seemed strange to him.

_Seems right stupid to me__._ His hollow shared, snickering at the strange ways wizards used their magic.

_Yeah I think so too. At least it's almost done. Now their gonna put the thing on kids' heads? What the hell is this?_

His hollow snickered again. _Didn't you read that book King? It said that hat's how they separate the kids into the different houses. Supposed to read your personality or somethin'. Seems bogus t' me._

Ichigo couldn't help but agree. He and his hollow shared a lot of the same opinions, more than Ichigo had thought at first, but they had a much better relationship after they had come to an agreement of sorts.

Ichigo's attention was set back on the events happening in the Hall when an old man with a long white beard and half moon glasses rose from his seat in the center of the main table. "This year, we at Hogwarts have the honor of hosting transfer students for the first time in three hundred years. We shall have two students joining our fourth year class. Our guests come from the Japanese Academy for Higher Magic and are attending for the year to learn other methods of magic than their own." Ichigo saw the man gesture for them to come in and after a quick glance at Toshiro, the captains swept into the room. They stalked down the aisle, heading straight for the stool that was still set up a few feet in front of the old man, ignoring the stares and whispers of the students they passed. They halted in front of the stool, standing in a relaxed posture that still allowed them to react at a moment's notice.

The woman from earlier, McGonagall, held out a piece of parchment, reading, "Toshiro Hitsugaya." Toshiro did not hesitate, walking up to the stool and taking a seat. He did flinch when the voice of the sorting hat first whispered to him, "Hmm. What do we have here? A Reaper. Well this is a first. What on earth are you doing here?"

_We're here to protect the school. We were requested to by the Headmaster of the school. _Toshiro answered, not sure if the hat could hear him or not.

"I see, so I suppose I just need to sort you then? I need to access you mind to do so, is that alright?"

Toshiro stiffened, there was no way he wanted anything digging around in his head. _Why would you need to do that?_

"I need to read your memories to figure out which house would suit you best. I'm afraid it cannot be avoided. I am under a spell that keeps me from telling anyone what I see in your mind. I am simply under contract that I may report what I see to the Headmaster if you might be a threat to the school but since you are here to protect the school I see no need to tell anyone what I see."

Toshiro relaxed a fraction, aware that Ichigo was watching him with narrowed eyes. _Alright then, but you won't like what you see._

He could feel a kind of pull in his mind and then it was gone. "Hmm you are right, I did not expect that. But now I have an idea. You are very smart, a healty thirst for knowledge, that alone would be enough for you to be put in Ravenclaw but you are not concerned with learning while you are here. You are very cunning and resourceful but you are not much more like a Slytherin. Very brave, daring….. yes I do believe you would be best in…. GRIFFINDOR!" the last was shouted aloud. Toshiro scowled and ripped the hat off his head before heading for the table with the most students clapping, sliding into a space close to the students they had seen on the train.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo scowled down at the hat before plopping down on the stool and setting it on his fiery hair. "Well, another Reaper I see." Ichigo almost ripped the hat off his head that instant but forced himself to relax, figuring this was part of the ceremony.

_Who th' 'ell 'r you? _ His hollow demanded loudly, making Ichigo flinch a bit at his volume. _This 'ere is my mind! Its already crowded enough already! Get out!_

"I am sorry but I must enter your mind in order to sort you. I did not know you have another person in here." The hat apologized, wincing from the vocal assault.

_Let him in, he won't be here long. Sooner he's in, sooner he's gone._ Ichigo placated his hollow.

"He's not going to attack me is he?" the hat was more nervous now that he could see the vicious form of his hollow in Ichigo's mind.

_He's fine. He won't do anything as long as you don't stay too long. So hurry up please, I don't like having visitors either. _

He felt the presence withdraw from his mind and could sense the hollow settling a bit. "Well that was interesting, you have had a busy life haven't you? So much in so few years."

_I'm not that young. Just a lot happened when I was younger._ Ichigo growled back, he wasn't the kid he used to be.

"Yes I see that but your past has changed you. Made you colder, more serious. It also helped you become more reliable, a better leader. You are very intelligent even though people do not think it based on your appearance. Very resourceful, determined to be the best possible…. Yes, I think you would make a perfect… SLYTHERIN!"

Ichigo tore the hat off his head and set it back on the stool, heading for the table at the far right with the students dressed in green and silver. He sat farther down the table, closer to the head table, where the older students were sitting rather than with those in his year. He glared at any students who looked like they might oppose him and they shut up, giving the scowling boy his space. He caught a glimpse of greasy blond hair and chuckled darkly to himself, this was going to be fun.

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><p>So... Did ya like it? I know it was kind of a stretch making Ichigo a dark wizard but I made him kind of condescending in this and it just kind of happened. I worked, so I left it. Besides, Ichigo isn't really a Light magic kind of guy, it's not dramatic enough for him. He's got to have all the really powerful things and doesn't care what others think of his powers.<p>

Review please! Next chapter: Meet the teachers!


	5. Chapter 5

Ha ha hah! New chapter. I am awesomesauce. I feel great.

You might have another chapter tonight, I don't know yet. We'll see.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter.

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><p>Ichigo tucked in to his dinner, mildly annoyed that there wasn't any Japanese food but not really surprised, it was not that common in England. Or Scotland, as they were now in. He wondered when they would talk with the Headmaster about their assignment, it better be soon, they only lost time if they waited.<p>

His new housemates studiously ignored the transfer student who was currently scowling down into his plate. They weren't sure what to think of him yet, he looked the same age as the seventh years but he was in fourth year classes. He sure looked mean enough to be a Slytherin, if Malfoy's story of how the boy had manhandled him earlier was to be believed, but he wasn't from any familiar bloodline, so why was he in the house with the purebloods? They would keep an eye on him, just in case. The girls of the house had less of a problem with him, taking advantage of his attention being elsewhere to stare at him. He was rather handsome, with a sharp boned face and his edgy orange hair that was lighter than any of the Weasley's as well as being straighter so it stuck out in spikes. He was tall, around 6', with a lean but muscles body, skin a permanent tan. He was handsome even when he was scowling but the girls couldn't help but wish he would smile, imaging how hot he would look if he did.

Ichigo was completely oblivious to the attention he was getting, just sitting at his seat until dinner was over and the students began filing out. Ichigo stood, glancing at Toshiro to see he had done the same, and walked over to the head table to face the old man with the long beard.

The man waited until the rest of the students had left and closed the doors before he turned to the transfers. "It is nice to finally meet you two, I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. You are? And please give your true identities, I trust my teachers to keep your secret." He then went through and introduced all of the teachers, giving their names and the subject they taught.

Toshiro glanced at the teachers seated on both sides of the headmaster. He turned and cast a silencing charm on the door before he straightened. "I am Toshiro HItsugaya, Captain of the Tenth Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Pleased to meet you."

Ichigo straightened as well, fixing his eyes on Dumbledore, "I am Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of the Fifth Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Nice to meet you."

Dumbledore looked at them both with interest, although McGonagall stiffened at his side, "Captains? But they are just children! They cannot possible be captains."

Ichigo glared at her, silencing her protests, "We are not children Professor, I assure you. Our appearances have not changed for many years, which is the only reason we look as we do. Do not treat us as children. I am the youngest captain in Soul Society at the moment and I am twice the age of your oldest students." Ichigo stared into her eyes, his gaze not wavering in the slightest.

A plump woman named Professor Sprout next to McGonagall startled, "Soul Society? What is that? And how have you not aged?"

Toshiro took this one, "Soul Society is the afterworld in Japan. I do not know what it is called in Europe but it is the afterlife in Japan. It is where the souls of the dead go to."

"The afterlife? But then-," She continued, her eyes widening as she realized what that meant.

Toshiro nodded, "Yes we are souls. We stay the same, always looking the age we were when we died. We do not age because we are not alive." His eyes gleamed in delight at the looks of absolute shock on the teachers' faces. Then he turned to Dumbledore, "I thought you would at least tell them some information about us, even if you do not know much yourself."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I thought it best to wait for your presence since you could likely explain better than I."

Toshiro nodded, "They at least know why we are here correct?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes I told them about the hollows and the need for extra protection from a source outside the wizarding world."

Ichigo perked up at this, "Yeah because your magic is just about useless against Hollows. Plus your Ministry is being retarded, ignoring the signs that Voldemort is back. They're really not doing themselves any favors." He shrugged as the teachers gaped at him, completely shocked that he talked about the issue so nonchalantly. He looked up and, seeing their expressions, raised an eyebrow, "Am I wrong?" They of course couldn't deny the truth of his statement so they were silent.

Toshiro ignored his pleased look, "Yes, so our tasks will be patrolling at night and handling any Hollows that pop up during the day. We will need permission to leave class so that we may fight them, since magical people can see us in when we are not in our gigais."

"Gigais?" This came from a man with scraggly hair and a false blue eye that darted around who had been introduced as Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Ichigo nodded, pulling out his pack of soul candy from his front pocket and popping one in his mouth. He immediately left the false body and stood in front of the teachers in his usual shinigami attire, sword sheathed at his waist since he still wore the armband. "We use gigais to travel in the human world, since normal humans can't see us. All magic folk can so we might just stash our gigais somewhere and go around in our normal form. What do you think Hitsugaya-taicho?"

Toshiro shook his head, "Can't. what would we do with our zanpakutos? We'll keep using the gigais, it's not like there are any creatures that can stand up to us even in our fake bodies. Especially since you and I know magic now, and you know Dark magic as well." Ichigo scowled but had to admit he had a point and reentered his gigai.

The teachers startled at that, especially McGonagall, "Dark magic? How do you possibly know dark magic? You are only supposed to be a fourth year student?"

Ichigo gave her an 'are you kidding me' look and scoffed, "Please, dark magic is not that hard. I just bought a book that taught it and learned how to do all the spells. It only took me two weeks. Your magic is so easy compared to kido, all you need is the right pronunciation and the right hand movement and you can do anything."

Toshiro rolled his eyes at Ichigo's matter of fact tone, "Kurosaki and I are both considered geniuses in Soul Society, it is one of the reasons we were chosen for this mission. Kurosaki graduated from the Academy in six months, it usually takes at least three years. I also graduated fairly quickly, though I did not have as much experience as Kurosaki did when I enrolled. We spent the last three months going through the textbooks from the last three years of classes and are able to perform any and all spells in them. We successfully caught up to your fourth year students in three months of self study. We would have done more but Dumbledore requested our extra watch over one Harry Potter, who is a fourth year. We figured we might as well be in the same year to make keeping an eye on him easier."

He watched them as they took in what he had said; he had pretty much stated that if they wanted to, they could graduate from Hogwarts in a few months just from self study. He saw Ichigo's smug look falter and disappear, turning into a confused frown, it was like that for a moment before the Fifth captain locked eyes with the man with greasy black hair and glared, the man almost fall out of his chair.

Ichigo had been having a great time, watching the looks of absolute shock on the teachers' faces until he felt something. It felt like someone was pushing in his head, sort of like the sorting hat had, but more violent. _What's going on Hollow?_

He could hear him snarl in his mind. _Some bastard's trying to get into yer mind, tha's what. Can I get rid of 'im?_ He could sense the sadistic glee in the hollow's voice and fixed his gaze on the man with shoulder length black hair, the Potions teacher, Snape.

_Go ahead. Just don't damage him too much. I don't want to be responsible for you breaking one of their teachers._ He could feel the Hollow's reiatsu roar up the contact trying to get into his mind and could feel the man's shock and fear. He glared a warning at the man as he reeled back in his chair, almost falling. _I don't think he's going to try that again._ He felt the hollow's pleasure at being able to lash out at the intruder. He smirked at the man, who was trying to right himself in his chair and pretend nothing had happened, "That's what you get when you try to invade my mind. Please don't try it again, you might not make it out in one piece if you do." His eyes flashed gold, the whites turning pitch black for a moment before returning to normal.

Toshiro smacked him on the arm, "What are you doing?"

Ichigo grinned at him, enjoying the little blush that erupted on the small captain's face when he did, "He was trying to enter my mind. I simply gave him a little warning." He turned to the wizard who looked even more frightened, though he tried to hide it, "That is very rude you know. Minds are very private. You would do well to avoid mine; I have a very effective guard who doesn't take kindly to intruders. If you do try it again you won't just get a little shove, he'll tear you to shreds." He grinned sadistically as Toshiro just sighed, knowing that Ichigo was in the right.

"What are you? No one has another _thing_ living in their mind!" The black haired wizard demanded but was shaking slightly.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him, "We're shinigami, also known as Reapers or Death Gods. We all have another soul living in our mind, the soul of our sword. Ichigo is a special case in that he has another soul living in his mind but we won't go into that. Just know that all shinigami's minds are guarded by our sword's soul. Ichigo's extra soul is more violent than his sword's so it tends to be the more aggressive but the same thing will happen if you try to enter the mind of a shinigami so don't try it, you may not survive the experience." Ichigo was grinning the whole while, making the teachers nervous. What sort of sword had a soul? And what was the other soul in Ichigo? Toshiro could tell they wanted to ask so he turned to Dumbledore, "Where are we staying? I think it is late enough. Will someone show us to our rooms?"

Dumbledore nodded, gesturing for them to leave. Toshiro cancelled the silencing charm as McGonagall and Snape got to their feet. McGonagall leading Toshiro one way and Snape leaving Ichigo another. Toshiro yelled over his shoulder, "don't terrorize him too much Kurosaki!" he heard Ichigo's chuckle before the other captain disappeared after a scowling Snape.

McGonagall led him up several staircases, a few of them actually moving, before stopping in front of a portrait of a fat lady. "Balderdash." The portrait swung open, "You must remember the password if you are to enter the dorms." She then pointed out where the dorm for his year was and he thanked her and walked to the room. He entered a room with several posted beds, some of them occupied with students but others empty and the students sitting in a group by the furnace at one end of the room. One of them, the black haired boy, Harry Potter, looked up when he entered as the other boys silenced, "Oh, Toshiro right?" he nodded, "Your trunk is over there, which bed do you want?"

Toshiro glanced around the room, "The one farthest from the furnace if that is alright." He didn't like the heat.

Harry nodded and pointed to the last open bed which was on the far side of the room. He pulled his trunk over to it and placed one hand on the lid, pushing a little of his reiatsu into the wood. It opened with a click and he pulled out his sleep clothes. He changed quickly and got into bed, "good night."

Harry stared at him for a moment longer until he was sure the small boy was really asleep before turning back to his friends. They had been talking about the boy since dinner, none of them knew quite what to think of him, other than he seemed slightly more friendly than the other transfer. He had told his friends about the train ride and how the Slytherin transfer, Ichigo, was a Dark wizard. They had agreed that he fit in Slytherin then, plus he was more violent than Toshiro, who seemed more agreeable. They would watch him.

Ichigo smirked in the doorway of the dorm, looking around the room with interest. He dragged his trunk over to the open bed and set it at the foot of the bed and opened it, pulling out his sleep wear and changing quickly before slipping into bed. It had been a long day and he needed some good sleep. Once he cast a spell to make the bed longer he was set, he was looking forward to the insanity that was sure to happen tomorrow. He smirked one last time before he let sleep take him, ignoring the curious looks of his housemates. This was going to be fun.

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><p>So, did'ja like it? Yay! Ichi and his hollow are buddies. I'm being intentionally vague about what their 'agreement' is basically because I haven't thought of it yet.<p>

I wanted them to get along so I could have Ichigo chase Snape out of his mind because we all know Snape really likes using that Legimens spell or whatever it's called.

Review please. I'm finally getting e mails fron so I'll be able to read the reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

Soo... I'm awesome. I have decided this. What is this? The third chapter today? I have no idea but I'm still amazing.

So... some of you like the whole power balance I have going, some of you don't. If you don't then I'm sorry but I have no intentions of changing it. The shinigami are captains, they have huge amounts of inner power and swords and release forms, I think it's kind of clear they're going to be able to overpower the wizards. Plus their kido are stronger than spells and can do more damage so, sorry but the shinigami are staying stronger. They have been through a couple wars and have waaayy more experience in fighting than wizards.

So yeah, not changing that. I tried to make Ichi a little nicer in this one. Also have more Harry, it has been a little too based on the captains hasn't it? Well it'll change next chapter or the one after that. DOn't worry.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. Hope you like this chapter, I think it'll be the last one for today.

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><p>Toshiro woke up early, quickly dressing and making his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He sat at his table and helped himself to the food sitting out.<p>

It didn't take long for the rest of the students made their way down, sitting at their respective tables and talking about the beginning of the term. The Heads of house were walking up each table and distributing their class schedules. Toshiro got his and glanced through it, he had Potions, DADA, Care of Magical Creatures, and Transfigurations with the Slytherins. He heard the other students complaining about it, he easily figured out that there was some sort of rivalry between students in Griffindor and students in Slytherin. That might make it a bit uncomfortable for him and Ichigo but they would figure something out. He glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Ichigo, focused entirely on the food in front of him, a visible space between him and any other student. He wondered what had happened in the short time since he had woken up. He knew Ichigo was not likely to get very close with the others in his class, he had no need to, he was there to do a job, as was Toshiro. Toshiro was going to make at least an attempt at being more friendly, he had to watch Potter and it would be easier if they got along somewhat.

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><p>He headed back to his dorm once he was finished eating, getting his books for his first class. His classes were alright, the Charms professor was impressed at his skill with charms and herbology wasn't terrible. It was a bit odd going back to school since he had not been in school since the Academy and that was decades ago, but he found it was not entirely unpleasant, he just went with the flow. He made his way to Potions, the last class before lunch and the first class he shared with Ichigo. He entered the room and saw that Ichigo was waiting for him, leaning against the far wall. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him but followed him to a desk in the center of the room, ignoring the stares of their classmates as they sat together.<p>

"I guess it's a big deal for a Slytherin to get along with a Griffindor, huh." Ichigo rumbled, shaking his head. "Stupid house rivalry."

Toshiro nodded, setting his textbook on the table before turning to his companion, "Why were you sitting by yourself at breakfast?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow in question, "No one was sitting within three feet of you."

Ichigo nodded, "They saw me when I was changing. Scared them I guess." He saw the look on Toshiro's face, "I didn't do anything to them. They just saw me before I had my shirt on, that's all. You'd think they'd never seen scars before."

_Ahh, that explains it. _"They've never seen any major scars. Their form of fighting is pretty clean remember? They don't really have any spells that will do permanent visible damage. Their healing spells heal completely, they don't leave scars. You can't blame them for being nervous."

"How about you?" Toshiro tilted his head. "Have they seen you? I know I have more and they're worse but I know you have some as well. I'm guessing not, since you aren't being avoided. You might now, since you're sitting with an enemy Slytherin." He gestured to the rows of Griffindors sitting at one side of the room, staring at them.

Toshiro pointed to the opposite side, where the Slytherins were staring as well, "What about you?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I don't give a shit if they exclude me. I'm not here to make friends." He mirrored Toshiro's thoughts from this morning.

"Yeah well, you could at least try to get along with them, it might make it easier." He knew Ichigo wasn't likely to make friends with the students but he could soften up a bit. He was going to say more but Snape walked in, scanning the class and resting on Ichigo and Toshiro. Ichigo smirked at the man and tapped his head as a reminder and the man flinched, it was not very obvious but the shinigami were perceptive.

Snape proceeded to start the lesson, pointedly not looking at Ichigo until he was walking up and down the rows looking at their progress. He grudgingly complimented Toshiro and Ichigo, both of who had made their potions perfectly and it went from there. They did notice that he took pleasure in tormenting the Griffindors who were clearly afraid of him and favored the Slytherins, not giving credit to Griffindors unless he couldn't avoid it. He seemed to have a specific dislike of Harry, taking any chance he had to quiet him and correct him.

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><p>The class finally let out and the students ran out of the classroom, heading for the Great Hall for lunch. Ichigo and Toshiro took their time, offering a cheery goodbye to Snape and talking about the classes they had already taken that morning. They separated to their separate tables and sat to eat, students giving Ichigo a wide birth like earlier. Toshiro heard the captain snarl at them in irritation, which of course only made them move even further away.<p>

Ron looked over at the Slytherin table in what he must have thought was sneaky but was incredibly obvious, looking nervously at Toshiro, "Bloody hell, how can you be friends with that guy? He's vicious!"

Toshiro scowled at him; did he really not listen to what he said? "Ichigo is a friend of mine. We went to the same school. He is not vicious, he is a good person, he just has a low tolerance for annoyances. He is very nice if you actually get to know him. He is one of the most popular people at home since he is very kind and reliable."

Ron obviously didn't believe him, "Him? Kind? He looks like he wants to kill someone!"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Ichigo who was scowling into his plate, "Yes he is very kind. Most people just judge him without any reason, like what _you_ are doing. It is very rude to judge a person before you get to know him. I would almost suggest you don't talk to him, since you would probably just annoy him with your thickness."

Ron sputtered, "Thick? Me? I'm not thick!"

"Yes you are. You judge people without knowing them. You insult people's friends and blurt out whatever you are thinking without even stopping to consider whether what you are saying is rude or not. That is considered being thick." Toshiro stated easily, turning back to his lunch.

Harry stopped Ron from jumping to his feet and confronting him. Hermione did the same, "You do tend to speak without thinking Ron. You should be more considerate. You insulted his friend you know."

Ron frowned as he was thinking about it and Toshiro didn't wait for him, getting up and going back to the dorm to get his books for the next class. He wasn't wasting his time on those who weren't worth it.

He sat with Ichigo in Transfigurations, earning a slightly surprised look from McGonagall. He figured this was the first time she had a Griffindor and a Slytherin sitting next to each other. She quickly got over it and got into the lesson. She didn't bother after seeing that they both could perform all of the spells without any difficulty and while looking terribly bored.

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><p>The rest of the day went much like the first few classes, they went to class, if they had it together they sat together and proceeded to show up everyone in the class by performing all of the spells and answering questions flawlessly. The only thing that went slightly awry was when Ichigo nearly burned himself in Care of Magical Creatures when he tried to hold a blast end skrewt. He and Toshiro had laughed their heads off once they decided the damage wasn't that bad, earning them some more weird looks. Hagrid had tried to talk Ichigo into going to the infirmary, it looked like a pretty bad burn, but Ichigo waved him off, saying "he'd had way worse, this is nothing." Considering it was at least a second degree burn the rest of the class had winced in how they imagined it must hurt but Ichigo didn't look fazed in the least which was even stranger.<p>

Then they got to Defense Against the Dark Arts. They sat in one of the center rows s few rows from the back of the room and waited for Professor Moody to start. They didn't know why, but they got a weird feeling around Moody, he didn't feel right. They knew the other agreed and decided to discuss it later. The lesson had gone fine until the ex-Auror brought out the spider and used the Imperious curse on it, then started swinging it around the classroom, making it land on several students. He had begun to set in towards Toshiro but Ichigo acted in an instant, his hand whipping out and snatching the creature out of the air, a foot from Toshiro's face. He held it there for a second, making Moody's eyebrows raise in surprise, before he flung it away from him. It landed on Malfoy's face. He had not intentionally thrown it there but still laughed when the pathetic boy whimpered and tried to get it off without it biting him.

They had stilled when Moody used the Cruciatis Curse on it, frown in disapproval at the creature cried out in pain and then stilled when he used the killing curse. They scowled at the professor, wondering just what the point of that lesson was. The three Unforgivable Curses, if used, would send a witch or wizard to Azkaban, the wizard prison, yet the man used them without hesitation simply as a demonstration. It made them sick. They would watch this man, he was suspicious.

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><p>They separated at dinner, ignoring the whispering from the students who had classes with one or both of them. The Ravenclaws wondered why they weren't in their house since they now had to best grades in all of their classes without any visible effort.<p>

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><p>Dumbledore called for silence and announced that the Quidditch Tournament would not be held this year. Once the outcries were done, he told them about the Triwizard Tournament and about the other schools that would be arriving on the first of October. The chatter started up again as the food appeared, this time about the tournament instead of the transfers. Toshiro was listening to the whispering half heartedly when he suddenly froze, his senses reaching out. Was that…..? He could feel it, the reiatsu of a hollow. <em>Well that didn't take long. <em>He stood and leapt clear of the table, racing out of the Great Hall, Ichigo right behind him. They ditched their gigais in an empty classroom and left the school, heading for the Forbidden Forest, where the feeling had come from. Toshiro looked back at the grinning face of Ichigo, "Time to go to work."

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><p>They returned to the castle an hour later. There had been quite a few hollows but they were lower levels. It had only taken so long because it was hard to maneuver in the thick trees and they had to chase down nearly every hollow. They entered the classroom where they had put their gigais and entered them, returning to their dorms since classes were done for the day. They ignored the looks they got from their housemates and the questions from some of the braver ones about where they had gone. They were going to sleep, it was another day of classes tomorrow and they weren't going to go through it being tired.<p>

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><p>The next few weeks went about the same as the first day, the other students learned that Ichigo was by far the best student in Defense and Toshiro was the best in Charms. They were about the best in all of the other classes but they didn't seem to care as much so didn't put in as much effort.<p>

Ichigo attempted to be nicer to his housemates and classmates, he mostly got along with the sixth and seventh years since they were more mature and he was nicer at tolerating the girls that hung on him after he showed that he wasn't going to strangle anyone who came close to him.

He and Toshiro were together constantly, Ichigo usually hunting him down in the halls and following him to class whether they had the class together or not. Ichigo seemed pretty interested in Harry and would ask him weird little questions whenever he saw the Griffindor boy, striking up random, easy conversations with him and Hermione, Ron was apparently still wary of him so he ignored the redhead. Hermione was very interested in how Ichigo and Toshiro had such good grades, they brushed it off saying "they had good memories" and that they could do any spell as long as they did it correctly a few times. Ichigo would give Harry pointers in Defense Against the Dark Arts after noticing that the boy was particularly focused in the class, which softened the boy up some.

Ichigo's classmates would voice their displeasure of his being so friendly with the Griffindors every now and then but usually wouldn't be very persistent since they knew Ichigo didn't care what they thought and would do what he wanted no matter what anyone else thought. Ichigo was clearly a free spirit, he did what he wanted, when he wanted, and didn't care in the least if someone had a problem with it. It made younger students and some older students even, some in his house and some not, look up to him for his attitude. He took things as they were and dealt with problems as they came at him, not hesitating to get the job done. He was very mature for his apparent age and had people coming to him for advice on their problems, he could usually be found in the Great Hall with Toshiro when not in classes.

People would ask Toshiro for advice too, if they were afraid or intimidated by the thought of asking a Slytherin for help. There still was some of the house rivalry going on, even if Ichigo did not act like a typical Slytherin, he was still in the house which intimidated others. Since Toshiro was usually with Ichigo most people got over their feelings against Ichigo since they couldn't exactly avoid him. Ichigo would actually go out of his way on some occasions and confront someone who had a particularly bad problem with him and would continue to approach the person until the problem was fixed. Ichigo was opening up and loosening up, enjoying every day of classes with his classmates, no matter what house or year they were in. That was one of the first things people learned about Ichigo, he was not biased, he treated everyone the same unless the other person had given him a reason to treat them differently. Malfoy still avoided Ichigo but that was more on his part than Ichigo's, who just ignored the boy. If he wanted to avoid him what did he care? He didn't.

The school year had started up full swing and it wasn't until Snape informed his class that he would be letting them out early to greet the guest schools that they realized it was October and the Triziward Tournament was about to begin.

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><p>Hope you liked it. Ichigo's nice now. He's kinda big-brothery. Maybe because he hasn't be able to brother anyone since he died? I dunno. It just kind of happened.<p>

So yeah, next chapter: The other schools arrive, how are Toshiro and Ichigo going to deal with this? We shall see.

Review please. I love them soo much.


	7. Chapter 7

So... New chapter. Yay me. I'd usually be thrilled but I kind feel crappy right now. My head hurts and my sides are cramping up for no reason other than the fact that they just _can_. So yeah, not my best today.

It took me longer than I expected to write this, I guess I just got distracted a lot. Oh well, it's done now so good for me.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter.

Oh yeah, warning: Karkaroff and Krum bashing. Sorta. I don't like either of them so there. It's not serious bashing, Ichigo just hates them and doesn't hide it.

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><p>The Potions classroom went from dead silent to yelling within seconds of Snape releasing them. The whole class, minus Toshiro and Ichigo, raced out of the dungeon classroom as fast as they possibly could, making for the entrance of the school. Ichigo and Toshiro stared at the door where the last student had just vanished and gave each other dumbfounded looks. They got up from their seats and made their way leisurely to the front entrance. They made their way through the massive crowd already formed in front of the school and walked so they were as far from the entrance as possible, where no one else was standing because of how far away it was.<p>

"I wonder how they're getting here." Toshiro mused, wondering if they would be taking the train like Hogwarts students did.

Ichigo just shrugged, he didn't really care how they got here, he just wanted them to get it over with so he could go on with his day. He heard a faint noise coming from somewhere near the lake and turned to face it. He could faintly see a shape approaching, bobbing up and down in the air. "Think that's one of them?" He pointed out the shape to Toshiro who narrowed his eyes to try and see it clearer.

"Maybe. Wonder which one."

"What are the schools again? I wasn't really listening when Dumbledore told us about them."

Toshiro shook his head at his companion, Ichigo really didn't pay any attention to things that didn't interest him. "Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Durmstrang is somewhere up north, like Norway or something and Beauxbatons is in France I believe. I think it's Beauxbatons coming now, I doubt Durmstrang would come in a carriage."

Ichigo looked again and saw that it was a carriage, pulled by a team of huge winged horses. One of the other students had finally noticed and yelled out, pointing to the carriage as it dipped perilously close to the lake before rising and becoming level with the front courtyard. People cried out as the carriage landed, banging into the ground a few times before coming to a halt. Now that the carriage was closer Ichigo was surprised at how big it was, it was almost the size of a small house. He was shocked when a huge woman, even taller than Hagrid exited the carriage before her students, making the carriage shake when her weight left it. Ichigo immediately ignored the students in blue robes and focused on the horses, they were amazing; at least twice his height with glowing red eyes, they were palominos with white wings that were folded over their backs. They snorted restlessly and pawed the ground, shaking their heads.

Toshiro glanced at his companion, noticing the shaking, "Restrain yourself Ichigo. You'll scare the students if you just walk up to them, give them a few minutes." He was pleased when Ichigo offered a tense nod and waited until the huge woman, the Headmistress apparently, was talking to Hagrid about caring for the beasts before he approached them.

Ichigo walked up to the head horse, completely relaxed but prepared for anything the horses might do. He ignored the shouts of warning as he stood in front of the huge beast and it shook its massive head, baring its teeth. He stared into those fiery eyes, not yielding in the slightest even when the Abraxan stallion pulled its head back and pawed the ground threateningly. He noticed it about to rear back and narrowed his eyes at it, releasing the smallest amount of his reiatsu and focusing it in his eyes, intensifying his glare. The horse froze for an instant, startled, before relaxing its muscles and dropping its head, eyes closed in submission. Ichigo reached up and scratched the flying horse's forehead before stroking its cheek. He smirked and pivoted on his heel, making his way back to Toshiro as if nothing had happened. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him but Ichigo just smirked even more before looking away with a bored expression.

The crowd was silent. They had all seen the transfer approach the huge beast and make it submit to him. He seemed to put no effort into it and acted like he hadn't done anything important. Abraxans were very proud beasts, like most magical creatures, and did not submit easily. They were very strong which made them even harder to tame but the strange transfer had managed it. And then he had walked away with a little amused look, as if he had just been curious as to what would happen.

Madame Maxine, the Beauxbatons Headmistress, and Hagrid were even more astounded, they knew full well how proud Abraxans were and how hard it was to tame them because of it. They did not know who this boy was, other than the slight knowledge Hagrid had of him because of classes, and did not know how he had managed such a feat. Hagrid decided he was going to talk to the boy later to find out how he had made the horse submit, it was not in the Care of Magical Creatures textbook and he wanted to know how he had known what to do. He led the team of horses away, the first one hesitating slightly and looking over at Ichigo before he nodded and it allowed itself to be lead away.

The attention was finally taken off Ichigo when there was a loud sound coming from the lake and the crowd turned to see a ship coming out of the lake, strangely front first before the front fell to the water and the now upright ship approached the docks. The Durmstrang students, which they must be considering their thick fur trimmed cloaks, came up the bank lead by a gruff man with a beard. While he greeted Dumbledore there were loud whispers and fingers pointed at one student, a stern looking boy who stood near his Headmaster.

Toshiro and Ichigo managed to figure out from the scattered bits of conversation they could hear that the boy was some sort of sports player. Toshiro didn't see what was so important about an athlete, he wondered if the boy was any good at magic; it seemed to be more important in survival than being good at games. Toshiro had of course seen some students practicing for the wizard sport Quiddich, mostly before Dumbledore had announced the Triwizard Tournament, and didn't see what the big deal was. It was apparently very popular in the wizard world but Toshiro had never been fond of sports, he wasn't bad at them, he was rather good, he just didn't see the point. Being able to fight was much more important than past times for entertainment. He glanced up at Ichigo and smirked at the incredibly bored look on his face, knowing that his partner had the same feelings towards sports as he.

The shinigamis followed the students into the Great Hall, waiting until they were all in so they wouldn't be crowded, and separated. Ichigo ignored the Durmstrag students sitting at the Slytherin table and made his way to his usual spot, at the very end at the front of the room with his back to the wall. He liked his seat since it was more private and he wasn't surrounded by people, he could also get out easier if need be. He didn't appreciate the increased volume of the Hall, it had already been too loud before the tournament began. He sighed as he waited for the food to appear, ignoring the other students sitting around him. Several students noticed his complete disinterest of the other school students and began to talk about it with their neighbors.

Ichigo was only half listening as Dumbledore formally welcomed the other schools, just staring down at his plate waiting for the food to appear. He smirked at the outcries when Dumbledore announced the age line that would keep out students under a certain age. Not that he would have a problem with it, _if _he was going to enter, which he wasn't. He could already tell his workload was going to increase because of the increase of people in the school. Hollows would likely be attracted, since now there were even more spiritually aware people in the grounds.

Dumbledore finally sat and the food appeared. Ichigo was pleasantly surprised to see a few Japanese dished sitting out, the Headmaster must have asked the house elves to make them. He snatched up the familiar dishes, which his housemates weren't touching since they were different, and tapped his fork with his wand, turning it into two metal chopsticks. He dug into his food, making those near him watch in fascination as he downed the food with the confusing looking implements. He ignored them, he wanted to enjoy the food of his homeland for as long as it was available. He snatched up one of his favorite foods and downed it, the boy next to him finally upping the courage to talk, "What is that?"

Ichigo looked up, it was actually one of the boys in his year, he had asked him for help in Defense at one point. "Unagi." At his confused look, Ichigo explained, "Eel." The boy looked disgusted and Ichigo huffed, he didn't act like that when he didn't like their food, "It's good. Don't knock it till you try it."

The boy looked slightly abased but still gave the food a wide birth. Ichigo just shrugged and took it for himself, no use wasting good food on those who wouldn't appreciate it. He glanced up and spotted a bowl of miso at the Ravenclaw table and got up to walk over. He tapped one girl on the shoulder, a Beauxbatons, not that he cared, and asked "Are you going to eat that?" gesturing at the bowl in front of her.

She looked surprised at his sudden presence but shook her head, handing him the bowl. She smiled at him once and he just grunted, his expression not changing in the slightest.

He nodded his head at her in thanks and returned to his table, not noticing he amazed look he was getting from more than a few students for approaching one of the prettiest Beauxbatons students. He had apparently talked to Fleur Delacour who was rumored to be half Veela, an enticing race who caused people to be attracted to them with ease.

He didn't really notice that she was that pretty, she was surely above average but he didn't really care all that much about it. He personally thought Toshiro was way cuter than she was; his fluffy white hair and his deep teal eyes were gorgeous. He smirked at the flabbergasted expression on the boy sitting next to him before helping himself to the miso, what was it with these people and staring?

Ichigo was just finishing his food when he sensed a presence, someone was watching him. More intensely than the normal students. He whipped around and locked eyes with Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the man, he did not like the look in his eyes.

_I don' like this guy. He ain't right._

_Yeah I agree with you. Something's off with him. I'm gonna stay away from him if I can but if he approaches me with less than sincere intentions I won't deal with it._ He allowed a touch of his hollow energy to be released, causing his eyes to turn the poisonous gold while his sclera turned black. He smiled one of his hollow smiles, one full of bloodlust, and enjoyed the man's reaction of reeling back and almost falling out of his chair. He wondered if this man was an acquaintance of Snape, they had the same reaction. He smirked again as he allowed his eyes to return to normal. He got up and turned to leave just to almost walk into Viktor Krum, the athlete from earlier.

The boy was clearly displeased; Ichigo guessed he had seen Karkaroff's reaction. He didn't know what Ichigo had done to scare the Headmaster, but he had frightened him none-the-less. He scowled at Ichigo, who was actually a few inches taller than the boy although was thinner. "What did you do to our Headmaster?" He had incredibly thick accent that was slightly difficult to understand but Ichigo managed.

He grinned down at the boy, "He was staring at me, I made him stop."

Krum just scowled even more. Ichigo tried to sidestep him, deciding that he was done with the conversation since there was nothing more to be said, but Krum grabbed his arm, slightly surprised at the solid muscle under his hand. "You leave our Headmaster alone."

Ichigo snarled, and decided he was done being nice to the guests. He whipped around in an instant, breaking out of Krum's hold easily and grabbing one of his arms with his right hand, he threw him over his shoulder. He watched as the athlete flew a few feet before crashing to the ground before he sauntered over. He leant down and hissed, "I didn't do anything to your precious Headmaster. He was the one bothering me by staring. Get your facts straight before you go laying your hands on people, especially if those people can kick your ass easily." He smirked as the boy started to get to his feet, about to retort. Ichigo's eyes turning to the unnatural yellow on black silenced him and ichigo turned and walked out, ignoring the stares and chattering of the people he passed.

He spotted Toshiro shaking his head at the Griffindor table and turned to grin at him, flashing his eyes again to the yellow on black that belonged to his hollow. The students who saw his eyes flinched but he ignored them, heading back to his dorm for the night. He heard his hollow agreeing with his treatment of Karkaroff and Krum as he fell asleep, this was going to be a pain.

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><p>So... yeah... Review please?<p>

I don't really have any plans for next chapter other than having all the different students putting their names in the cup.

I couldn't resist making Ichigo overpower the horses, I did that in another of my fics but I made Ichi likes animals in this so it just fit. Plus he's got a lot of internal power so that would help.

And yeah, see? Karkaroff and Krum bashing. Sort of. They annoy Ichi so he uses his hollow eyes.

Comment please. Suggestions for next chapter? Tell me what you like/don't like? Criticism is welcome as long as it is constructive criticism, not I'm-gonna-tear-your-heart-out-with-my-words-because-this-is-so-bad criticism.

I think I need to sleep now. Goodbye.


	8. Chapter 8

So I finished this last night and TRIED to put it up but the site wouldn't let me, kept asking for me to sign in when I tried to get to the Doc Manager so I gave up and decided I would try again tomorrow. And now it works so yay you all.

I also re-read all the chapters up to this point and noticed how many spelling errors I made. I debated going back and fixing them all but decided it was too much work. So sorry if you noticed the mistakes, yes I have noticed them, but I have no plans in going back and fixing them all. I don't proofread, we have established this now. Sorry for all the mistakes, past and future.

I found it amusing that several reviewers mentioned wanting Toshiro to get attention and I had already planned for him to do something that would make people stare. It is in this chapter and there will be an incident in the next chapter as well.

There is also way more Harry in this, considering it's all in Harry's POV. Plus a lot of relationship building between Harry and Toshiro and Ichigo. Friendship only but its still nice. So for those of you who were asking for it this is your chapter.

I also got more Malfoy tormenting in too, so its a plus for me. I like this chapter. Hope you do as well.

I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter.

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><p>Harry really did not know what to make of the transfer students. He thought Toshiro was pretty nice, if he did tend to treat everyone like children, as if he was older than everyone. He even did it to some of the teachers, correcting them on some of their facts and pointing out the correct answer in the book. The white haired boy was strange outside of that, like how he had white hair and it actually seemed natural! At first he thought it was bleached but Toshiro had been at school for over a month now and there weren't any signs of his roots being a different color. But that was impossible right? There was no way for a fourteen year old; Harry still thought he looked eleven, to have white hair. Even his eyebrows were white! It was absurd! Plus he had weird eyes; those big teal eyes seemed so old for a boy, as if he had seen so much more than anyone else. Harry noticed that Ichigo's eyes were like that too, he wondered if it had something to do with the kind of magic they did. He thought overall that Toshiro was a pretty cool guy, he was wicked smart but wasn't conceited about it and would help anyone who asked him for help. He was nice as long as you didn't insult him or Ichigo, who he seemed strangely sensitive about, and he got along with just about everyone. He didn't seem to care what house a person was in, just treated them as an individual.<p>

Ichigo was even stranger. The boy was clearly older than Toshiro yet was in the fourth year classes while it seemed like he could be in the higher level classes if he wanted to. Toshiro seemed like he could have skipped a few years as well, Harry didn't buy what the boys had told them about their being on the level of fourth years, Toshiro had almost perfect grades in all of his classes and from what Harry had heard, Ichigo did too. So why were they in the fourth year classes if they could do more? Plus there were the weird incidents when Toshiro would randomly tense up and rush out of the classroom with an intense look on his face, and the teachers let him! They wouldn't even try to speak to him once they noticed, but if anyone else tried to leave early they were seriously reprimanded. What was the deal with the transfers? Why were only they allowed to leave? And why did they come back together looking like they'd just been in a fight? He had only seen them return a few times but every time he had the boys had been sweaty with tears in their clothes and sometimes even bleeding. He wondered what they were up to but every time he asked Toshiro about it he would immediately change the subject and would flat out refuse to answer any questions about the topic.

He didn't even try to ask Ichigo about it, he had seen one of the orange haired boy's classmates ask him and saw the boy's face shut down and growl out that it was none of their business, his tone low and almost threatening. Harry had to admit the older boy scared him a bit, even if they got along fine usually, there was this intensity about Ichigo, like he was incredibly focused at all times. The older boy was nice enough to people, something the other students realized, but he was terrifying if you got on his nerves, which was unfortunately easy to do. A few of his classmates had the bad luck to do so and Harry had seen the aftermath, he didn't know what the Slythrins had done but it obviously was bad, what else would make the orange haired boy so mad he punched straight through one of the thick study desks in the library? Harry didn't know anyone with that much power, and he did it without magic! Harry sure didn't want to get on the bad side of his temper, as did the rest of the school as they quickly tried to find out what set the transfer off and worked to avoid it at all costs.

The teachers had odd reactions to Ichigo as well, McGonagall didn't seem to know what to do with him when she caught him arguing with students in the halls and the boy just brushed it off, Hagrid was still confused over the blast ended skrewts incident, and Snape actually seemed like he was afraid of him! He would turn even paler than normal when his eyes met the boy's brown ones, he hid it well but Harry had noticed a few times when the Potions master wasn't looking.

And now with the guest school! He had ignored the Beauxbatons, who were all gorgeous, and looked at the horses instead. Harry still wasn't sure what he was doing approaching the huge beasts in the first place and Hagrid and Madame Maxine were _still_ trying to hunt him down to ask how he had made the lead horse submit. He had actually _talked_ to one of the prettier students and had practically ignored her other than asking her for a bowl of soup! Harry had been watching Ichigo after that so he watched the whole incident with Karkaroff and Krum. He wasn't sure what the boy had done to scare the other Headmaster but knowing Ichigo it could be anything. Then he had actually thrown Krum! Ron was still fuming over the boy throwing his idol. Harry mainly was wondering how Ichigo was strong enough to throw the heavier boy several feet in the air with one hand, even making him fly several feet. Then Ichigo had said something to the boy(a scolding most likely, knowing Ichigo) and done something to scare him too, Harry wondered if he did the same thing that scared Karkaroff. He had noticed Toshiro shaking his head next to him and turned, still looking at Ichigo from the corners of his eyes. He had almost fallen back when he noticed something off about Ichigo as he grinned at Toshiro and focused on his eyes, the iris of his eyes were a poisonous yellow and the whites had turned black. The yellow irises seemed to glow for a moment before returning to his normal amber eyes, as if nothing had happened. Harry looked over questioningly at Toshiro after the Slytherin transfer had left but Toshiro just shook his head and muttered, "Ichigo's a little special," as explanation. As if he didn't already know that! No one normal could punch through tables, shake off two degree burns like they were nothing, and throw people over their shoulder like it was commonplace!

He was thinking about the transfers as he stood in front of the goblet of fire as students from all three schools put their names in. He glanced over at Toshiro, who was standing with Ichigo along the far wall several feet away from the goblet and watching the students as well. They were talking to each other fairly loudly which was strange since they usually only whispered to each other as if they were talking about things that most shouldn't hear. Then he realized why they were talking so loudly, they were speaking in Japanese, or he thought so, considering that was where the boys were from he assumed that's what the language was. He didn't know any Japanese and he figured none of the other students did as well, that must have been why they were alright with speaking so loudly. They were speaking very quickly, the students near them looking very confused just by the speed they spoke at. They watched Fred and George's attempt at cheating the age line and Ichigo burst out laughing. Toshiro punched him on the arm, speaking more high speed Japanese, probably a scolding, though his cheeks turned red when Ichigo smiled down at him and gestured to the twins who were now leaving with long white beards and hair.

Toshiro muttered something and they turned, walking towards the age line surrounding the goblet. They were walking straight towards the goblet and Harry started to worry, if they kept going in that direction they would hit the age line and Toshiro might get hurt. Harry yelled out a warning just as they were about to pass over the age line but he was too late, the pair kept going and walked right over the line, not stopping until they were a few feet in and turning, pulling on black armbands before they resonded, "What?"

Harry was speechless, they had just gone through the age line and were fine. That was to be expected of Ichigo, who met the age limit since he was seventeen, but Toshiro was fourteen, he should not have been able to pass over the age line, yet he was perfectly fine. The pair stared at the crowd of students gaping at them with raised eyebrows. Ichigo turned to Toshiro, "Why are they staring?" Toshiro just shrugged and they kept walking, taking off the wristbands and continuing their conversation in rapid fire Japanese.

Those who had witnessed the spectacle continued to stare even when the boys were long gone. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione, who had been watching next to him, and dragged them with him to Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster let them in kindly, offering them a lemon drop as he always did, before he let them ask their question. "Toshiro somehow entered the age line. He and Ichigo were talking in Japanese and walked right through it, they didn't stop until they were in front of the goblet when they heard me. Several people spoke out before they got so far in but they didn't respond. How could Toshiro have entered the age line? He's only fourteen?"

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes sparkling in interest, "Ahh, I see. I thought something might happen. Our transfers are ….. special individuals. They have special abilities that come with the sort of magic they study. I suspect one of their abilities allow Toshiro to be unaffected by the magic used to make the age line. Did he or Mr. Kurosaki submit their names to the goblet?"

Hermione shook her head, "No Professor, they were just walking past it. I am curious as to how they did not seem to notice we were speaking to them, it was as if they couldn't understand us. I did notice that they didn't speak English until they put on some sort of black wristband. Before they had them on, they were only speaking Japanese and didn't respond to what anyone said around them. They even ignored a student who yelled out to Ichigo, asking him for help later on. Ichigo acted as he didn't even hear him, he just kept on talking to Toshiro in Japanese."

Dumbledore smiled softly, "Well if they did not enter their names in the cup I assume it does not matter if they can enter the age line or not. I do not think either of our transfers have any interest in our competition so I feel there is nothing to worry about. As for them not responding, I believe their wristbands are a translator of sorts, with it on they can speak and understand English fluently but without it they can only speak their native language. I do not think there is anything to worry about, our transfers can handle themselves. Now I believe you three have classes to attend am I wrong?"

They mumbled goodbyes and left the office, feeling slightly cheated. They had a feeling the answers the Headmaster had given them were not the whole truth but there was nothing they could do. They hurried to class; one their house shared with Slytherin, and noticed how many people were staring at Toshiro and Ichigo. They both apparently noticed because Ichigo was tenser than he had been in weeks and one of Toshiro's eyebrows kept twitching. By the end of class Ichigo looked like he was going to beat someone up or jump out the window when he and Toshiro both jolted upright, as if they had been electrocuted, and leapt out of their chairs. Harry heard Ichigo mutter, "thank god," before the pair were out of the room. He looked over at Ron but the redhead just shrugged, he knew no more about the transfers than he did.

By dinner most people seemed to have heard of what happened with the age line and wouldn't stop sneaking glances at Toshiro. Dumbledore bringing the goblet into the Great Hall finally distracted them and they turned their full attention on the Headmaster as he announced the students who would be participating as champions in the tournament. Harry cheered the most for Cedric, of course because he was representing their school, and looked at Ron weird when he looked like he was going to clap his hands off when Krum's name was picked.

His heart sank when his name was called. Was this some sort of bad joke? He didn't enter his name, there was no way for him to do so even if he wanted to, which he didn't. All he thought as he walked to the back room was: _this can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening._ And then of course Karkaroff and Madame Maxine had accused him of cheating to get his name in the goblet and lying when he told them he didn't. Why would he even _want_ to enter the tournament? He wasn't old enough and he didn't want to do it, it was dangerous. People had died! That was why it hadn't been held in so long in the first place! Why would they think he wanted to do this?

When they told him he had no choice he thought he was going to pass out or be violently sick. There was _no_ way he wanted to compete. No way in hell. But now he had to. This sucked.

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><p>When he was walking back to his dorm everyone was whispering, they must have thought they were being sly but they were so obvious. <em>Great, first I'm entered in a life-threatening tournament without my consent and now people avoid me for it! This isn't fair!<em>

Going to see Hagrid at some god awful time of night didn't make him feel any better. So far he hated this competition. What kind of sick and twisted person decides that making students face off against dragons is a good idea? And this was the first task? He was so screwed.

He was walking to his next class, trying to avoid looking at the badges that read 'Potter stinks' and promoting Cedric when he saw said boy with a group of his friends in the middle courtyard. He figured he might as well be nice and let the older boy know what he was up against. He didn't have anything against Cedric, he knew the Hufflepuff boy was really nice and figured he'd help him out. After he talked to the older boy he just confirmed what he thought about him, at least Cedric didn't think he was a cheater, even asking his friends to not wear the badges.

He almost escaped the courtyard, almost. But of course Malfoy had to be nearby to ruin his slightly better day. He thought he managed to deal with him pretty well, until he turned around and saw the suddenly enraged face of Ichigo looking at something behind him. He turned around just as Professor Moody transfigured Malfoy into a ferret. He couldn't help but laugh as the DADA teacher swung the ferret around in the air before stuffing him down Goyle's pants.

But of course McGonagall had to come and kill all the fun, scolding Moody and turning Malfoy back. Harry wished she hadn't, Malfoy had been much tolerable as a ferret, mainly because he couldn't speak. Though watching Moody chase after him was worth it. He almost felt bad for Malfoy when he ran smack into Ichigo, then he was wondering how the transfer had gotten over there so fast, wasn't he behind me? Harry turned and saw only Toshiro, who was looking behind Harry with a little smirk on his face. Harry turned back around to see Ichigo smirking down at Malfoy, who was still on the ground.

Harry didn't blame him, Ichigo looked positively frightening right now; his eyes had changed to that unnatural poison yellow on black and he had a huge smile on his face, but it only made Harry shudder. It was not a happy smile, not even slightly friendly, it reminded Harry of a horror movie he had seen once where the killer was some insane psychopath who grinned so wide when he was killing people it looked like his face was splitting in half. Then Ichigo began to speak, a deep, hoarse noise that made it sound like he was growling, "Now see here brat." He grinned even wider when Malfoy bristled at the name, "Harry Potter is my friend and I'm not very happy with how you are speaking to him. I know for a fact that he did not put his name in the goblet, as it is physically impossible for him to do so because of the age line. I would appreciate it if you would shut your big mouth and kept your snide, false comments to yourself. If you don't, well then you'll have to deal with me. And the next time won't be nearly this pleasant." As he had been speaking the air had seemed to get heavier, making it harder to breathe, it seemed especially difficult for Malfoy, who was almost gasping for air as he finished. He smirked even wider at the last words, his yellow eyes gleaming and the invisible pressure vanished. Ichigo walked past Malfoy, who was trying to get to his feet even as his legs shook, and offered a sly smile at Harry before gesturing for him and Toshiro to follow him.

Harry complied, seeing Toshiro almost appear next to him as they left the courtyard. Toshiro moved up to be even with Ichigo and punched him on the arm, and proceeded to scold him, "Idiot, don't release your power like that. What would you do if you made the boy faint?"

Ichigo shrugged and wouldn't meet Toshiro's blazing teal eyes, "It was fine, I only released a tiny bit anyway. He'd only pass out if he was really weak, which he kind of was. I knew he was a weakling." He grinned and bumped shoulders with Toshiro, which was more like elbow with shoulder since Toshiro was more than a foot shorter than he was.

Toshiro just huffed and looked away, a ghost of a blush on his cheeks. "Just don't do it again. I don't want to be dragging people to the hospital wing because you couldn't control yourself."

"You did it on the train." Ichigo pointed out, enjoying the harder blush on the older captain's face.

Harry walked a little faster to be even with the transfers and stopped them, turning to face them, "I want to thank you guys. Most people think I cheated to get into the tournament and won't even listen when I try to explain that I didn't enter. I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me, even though you're in another house, Ichigo."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and cracked his neck loudly, "Ahh, it's nothing. We know you didn't enter. It was obvious from how terrified and confused you looked when Dumbledore called your name. And me being Slytherin doesn't matter, I'm your friend, it doesn't matter what house we're in. The house doesn't make the person. Look at me, I'm not a very typical Slytherin am I?"

Harry chuckled, "Not usually but the way you scared off Malfoy kind of was." He laughed harder at the frown on Ichigo's face.

Toshiro chuckled as well, "Yes, you can be intimidating when you want to be Ichigo."

Ichigo just muttered, "Only when friends or family is involved."

Harry laughed again, "I'm just glad to have friends like you guys. Most of my friends don't trust me now. I'm glad you guys are on my side."

Ichigo snorted, "Of course we're on your side. Those moron friends of yours are just being stupid. Give them a bit of time, they should realize how dumb they're being. As for me, I think I'm gonna try and destroy all of those stupid badges, they're starting to piss me off, that'll teach people to leave you alone."

Harry just laughed, really glad he had some friends who would believe him and thought about things before judging.

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><p>He was even more amused when he found out that Ichigo had made good on what he had said, apparently crushing every single badge he laid eyes on. He either threw them against something, stepped on them, crushed them with his bare hands, or found some other way to destroy them if he didn't have a rock or something hard to beat them with until they stopped functioning. People finally figured out to hide them if Ichigo was around, 'badge hunting' as he called it, and eventually they just decided it wasn't worth it and stopped wearing them all together. A few people actually approached Harry and apologized, begging him to stop Ichigo from breaking things whenever someone said something bad about Harry, whether they had a badge or not.<p>

Harry decided he was happy, even with his violently loyal friend. He was destructive, but 'with good reason' as he put it. Harry liked the boy the more he saw him, and decided that he could get through this if he had his friend's support. It was time for the first task, let's do this.

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><p>See? See? Those of you who wanted friendly fluffy stuff between Ichigo and Toshiro and Harry? Here ya go.<p>

I made Ichigo all protective in this, it suits him. Plus I just like making him destructive and then excusing himself because he had good reason to act as he does.

I actually like this chapter. Way more Harry than I've had so far, something I was kind of annoyed at myself for. I'll try to mix it up from here on out. It should be easier now that the tournament is actually starting.

Next chapter? First task. Extended from where the movie left off, what happened right after Harry got the golden egg? Toshiro and Ichigo, that's what. Hee hee hee.

Curious? Then review and tell me what you want/ what you like/ what you don't like!

Reviews are the best way to get me to write. It really is.

Oh and those who want a Bleach pairing with Harry? I'm thinking about it... I wasn't even considering having any other pairings other than Ichigo/Toshiro but I'm thinking about it now. Review if you have an idea of who might be good. Preferably a guy? I write guys better than girls.

Ta ta for now! Review please! Maverick14th OUT!


	9. Chapter 9

So yeah, I know. I'm terrible. Making you all think I updated when I didn't. I edited this chapter. I didn't like how Toshiro didn't do much so I added in some more stuff. Hopefully this is better. I do have ideas for next chapter so you might have another chapter soon.

I have one thing to say, romance is hard to write. I'm not very good at it, I'm warning you now. So, sorry if the romance is utterly horrible.

Also, I said I was thinking about doing a Harry pairing with one of the Bleach guys right? Yeah... That's not happening. Sorry but I just really don't like the idea of it, I guess it just doesn't fit with what I want for the story. Mainly because I want Ichigo and Toshiro to be the ONLY Bleach characters at Hogwarts. So sorry if you wanted that but it's just not going to work for me.

Also, action in this one. I had to specifically look up Kido spells for this chapter. That bodes well doesn't it? I dunno.

Ichigo + Toshiro + dragon = FUN TIMES

At least for their already high number of rumors and watchers. These two just can't be subtle about anything can they? Nope! And that's why it's fun.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. Enjoy.

Oh yeah, and _"this" _is when they're speaking Japanese. That is all.

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><p>The Great Hall was even louder than normal, the students anxious for the first task that was scheduled to begin that afternoon . Ichigo ignored the chatter, grumbling into his bowl about people not knowing the meaning of peace and quiet. A screech captured his attention just as he was about to leave and he looked up, seeing the various owls the students used to send and receive mail. He wasn't very interested until he noticed that the owls were flying faster than normal, dropping their packages haphazardly before exiting out another entrance to return to the owlery. He looked up at a familiar screech and saw that the last owl to enter the Hall was descending. He grinned up at the owl and stood, holding out his arm for the bird to land.<p>

The bird barely avoided smacking the students sitting near Ichigo with its massive wings but Ichigo raised his arm a bit to give his owl more room. He drew the bird closer to him when it landed, smiling as it swiveled its head to fix him with dark orange eyes. "Hey Kuro," he greeted the bird softly, chuckling when it clicked its beak in reply. He spotted the package tied to the bird's leg and held her easily with one arm as he untied the string, releasing the bundle to fall to the table. He raised the arm Kuro was perched on to his shoulder and the huge bird climbed onto it, freeing his other hand to unwrap the package. He sifted through the package, not noticed the fact that the whole Hall was staring at him. He glanced up to look for Toshiro and saw the look on the face of the boy across from him, "What?" he asked irritably, being the center of attention was getting annoying; didn't these people have anything better to do?

"Y-you have an eagle owl," the boy simply stuttered.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "No shit Sherlock."

Malfoy seemed to snap out of his stupor, "You can't have an eagle owl!"

"Why the hell not? I bought it so obviously I can." He sneered at the boy; he still didn't know to keep his mouth shut around Ichigo.

Pansy Parkinson piped in, "Because they're not very common Ichigo. Not many people can handle them, since they are very strong. They also have a nasty habit of eating the smaller owls at school so they typically aren't allowed."

Ichigo tilted his head back to look at Kuro who mirrored her owner and tilted her head as well, ear tufts swaying. The huge bird ruffled her feathers and settled, closing her orange eyes. "She's fine. Kuro won't eat any of the other birds. She likes bigger things, plus she thinks feathers are a pain. She'll only go after other birds if they antagonize her. I've watched her so I know she's alright."

His classmates stared at him, surprised that he knew the habits of his owl so well. They stared at said owl as the transfer continued to rifle through the contents of his mail; it almost looked like it was asleep, save for the soft noises it was making when Ichigo ran his fingers through its feathers absently. The bird was a fair size for its kind, huge wings reaching almost six feet in length and feet with wickedly sharp talons. They wondered how Ichigo wasn't in pain from the sharp feet gripping his shoulder, or how he wasn't struggling to support the weight of the bird, which was a fair amount considering the bird's size. They noticed the unusual coloring of the eagle owl, most were a golden brown with speckles of darker brown and black with a paler stomach but Ichigo's bird was black with a slightly lighter stomach and flecks of silver and dark grey on its feathers. It was unusual, as was the bird's obvious comfort near the boy, not showing hostility of any shape or form towards the orange haired boy, actually hooting softly at him.

It flapped its wings as Ichigo stood to maintain its balance, its talons tightening on his shoulder, yet Ichigo gave no sign that the bird was hurting him. He murmured to the bird "Thanks Kuro, I'll see you later" before he reached up and the bird hopped onto his wrist. He flung his arm upwards, successfully throwing the bird into the air where it flapped its large wings easily and left the Great Hall. He gathered the contents of the package and left the table, catching Toshiro's eyes and nodding once before he was out of the room.

Toshiro stood and followed his partner, ignoring the fact that a large portion of the students were still staring at the doorway where Ichigo had disappeared, still amazed at his owl.

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><p>Toshiro walked quickly to the unused classroom the shinigami captains had taken to using as a storage room for their gigais when they went hollow hunting. He entered and shut the door behind him, casting a silencing charm on it just in case. Ichigo was leaning up against the larger teacher's desk at the front of the room, the unwrapped package on the table next to him. They both pulled off their bracelets and Toshiro approached Ichigo, looking down at the package with interest. He had wondered what it was and why it had been sent to Ichigo only, though considering the bird liked Ichigo more than him he supposed he couldn't be that surprised.<p>

Ichigo grinned as Toshiro scowled, spotting the candies that the package contained. He knew it was Ukitake's doing, the older captain was always giving Toshiro treats, much to the smaller captain's embarrassment. Ichigo knew for a fact that Toshiro did like candy, just not in excess and not when it was very sweet. He put up a front of hating all things childish because he didn't want to enforce the ideas people already had about him based on his appearance. That's why Ukitake would give him milder candies whenever they would visit each other. Ichigo liked sweets as much as the next guy but had a particular fondness for chocolate, which, coincidentally (not) was also included in the care package of sorts.

Ichigo handed Toshiro the mild sweets without a word, waiting for him to take them and giving him a firm stare when he didn't immediately. Toshiro just sighed and took them, giving Ichigo an exasperated look that wasn't very convincing. Then Ichigo handed him the letters that were sent with the note, reading the first and then the second.

The first was clearly a report from Soul Society, warning them of a detected increase in the amount of hollow reiatsu around the school and encouraging them to be careful. It had other such formal information and a request for their next report soon.

The second was a smaller sheet of paper and was written in lazy handwriting, some of the words being slightly more difficult to make out than the clear handwriting of the first letter. This letter was obviously from Urahara, he could tell just by how it was worded and he could feel himself getting pissed off even without the annoying ex-shinigami captain present. It was mainly a reminder that they take care of their gigais and to make sure no one found out about them. There was a request for them to bring him back some 'gifts' from the wizarding world that he wished to study. The after note made Toshiro chuckle, a complaint about Ichigo's bird being 'evil,' and 'possessed' because it had kept on trying (and apparently succeeding) in biting his fingers when he tried to handle it. There were even a few drops of blood on the paper, which Toshiro avoided when he was holding it. He glanced up at Ichigo and guessed he knew which part Toshiro had been reading. He offered a blinding smile as he stuffed the pack of chocolates in his robes and crumpled up the package wrappings, "_Ready to go? We got a competition to watch. Let's hope there aren't any uninvited guests while they're at it." _

Toshiro nodded, flushed a dark red, which Ichigo seemed to notice. The taller captain walked the few steps in between them and leaned down until he was almost eye level with Toshiro, "_Is something the matter? Hitsugaya-taicho?" _he practically purred the smaller captain's title, which just made Toshiro blush even more.

Toshiro shook his head, trying to get his mind off the man standing so close he could smell the sandalwood soap the orange haired captain used. It didn't seem to work as he only began to think even more about the taller man, whose eyes were gleaming with pleasure as he leaned over the smaller. "_N-nothing is the matter. And why are you suddenly calling me HItsugaya-taicho? What happened to calling me Toshiro?_" he flushed at the thought, remembering when he had used to yell at the then-substitute shinigami for using his first name. He admitted that he liked the younger captain being so familiar with him, even if it was only because they were in an English speaking nation that switched the name order.

Ichigo tilted his head slightly, contemplating if he actually wanted to tell Toshiro now or not. He smiled down at him, enjoying the little shiver he tracked down the white haired captain's body, "_I thought you wanted me to call you Hitsugaya-taicho? You used to yell at me if I called you any other way. I thought you didn't like me being familiar with you?_" he teased, knowing full well what the issue was and having no intention of letting Toshiro avoid it.

Toshiro flushed as Ichigo repeated what he had just been thinking, "_I-I don't….. dislike it_." He mumbled, blushing harder at the grin on Ichigo's face.

"_Oh?"_ Ichigo mused, he leaned down even farther, until his chin was even with Toshiro's eyes. He whispered into Toshiro's ear, "_Then you're alright with me being so familiar with you?_" He rumbled his question, licking his lips as the smaller man shivered.

Toshiro couldn't make himself speak so he just nodded, wondering how long Ichigo was going to breath into his ear, his hot breath ghosting over his neck and making him shudder. Ichigo chuckling in his ear didn't help at all; Toshiro had to restrain himself from squirming. This man was making him strange; he didn't know what he was going to do about it. He mumbled at him, pulling away slightly, "_Yo-your just messing with me._" He didn't meet the other captain's eyes and so didn't see the shock in the honey brown orbs.

_Does he seriously think I'm just screwing around with him? Is it that hard to notice? I thought I was a bit more obvious than that. Matsumoto caught on pretty quick, being very insistent that the frost haired captain felt the same way I did. Maybe Toshiro isn't as good at reading people as I thought, that or he's oblivious to things that actually involve him._ He sighed and leaned back, grabbing Toshiro's chin and forcing him to meet his eyes, "_Do I look like I'm screwing around with you? I wouldn't call someone their first name if I didn't care about them, don't you think,_ Toshiro?" The last was a husky whisper, mirrored in heated brown eyes.

Toshiro was shocked, he hadn't expected such a reaction from the larger captain but flushed at the look in those deep brown eyes. _Maybe Matsumoto was right when she told him that Ichigo felt the same?_ He had always thought that she was just saying that to make him feel better, or to try and make him motivated enough to actually confront the orange haired captain. She had been strangely persistent in telling him this, even more so than usual for her, and actually offered to help him with his work if he did tell the captain how he felt, which _never_ happened. Matsumoto? Offering to _work_? Willingly? It just didn't make sense. He glazed up at Ichigo and was surprised at the honesty in his eyes as the captain was still waiting for an answer to his question. _"No you do not. I suppose you do have a tendency to call your friends by their first names."_

Ichigo scowled, he thought he thought of him as just a friend? Seriously? Was he that dense? He stared down at Toshiro, "_I think of you as more than a friend Toshiro."_ He was about to elaborate when he heard the sound of hundreds of feet moving through the hall outside. He sighed in defeat, _I guess we'll have to continue this discussion another time. _He glanced at the door and then down at Toshiro again, who was looking even more confused and flustered as ever, "_well it seems the first task is about to start. I suppose we should head down. See you at the field Toshiro." _He walked out before the other captain could respond, grinning once over his shoulder as he left the room after dispelling the silencing charm.

Toshiro stayed where he was, still trying to figure just what Ichigo had said. _He thinks of me as more than a friend? What does he mean by that? Does he mean he likes me? No, that's not possible. But then again, Matsumoto seemed so sure…. I don't know what to do….. I'll confront him about it after the first task, I should go and see if Harry is alright for now. I can think about this later…_

He slipped his band on and exited the room, heading for the Quiddich field that had been transformed into a coliseum of sorts. He spotted Ichigo heading for the champions tent and followed, sneaking in the back side of the tent. He was a bit surprised to see Hermione there but seeing as she was one of Harry's friends that had not accused him of foul play he supposed she would show up to support her friend. He stepped up next to Ichigo, whose face was in its usual frown, as if he had not been whispering into Toshiro's ear a few minutes ago. He made his own face carefully blank as he watched Hermione assure Harry that he would do fine.

Ichigo scowled at Krum and Karkaroff, who were glaring at him from one corner of the tent, and patted Harry on one shoulder. "You'll do fine. Just try to stay calm and do your best. I doubt Dumbledore would let you be in any serious danger and if you do end up in a tight spot I'll help you out. As long as you finish the task first no one'll have anything to complain about if I help you get out of danger. So don't worry, you'll be fine." He grinned at the dark haired boy and was pleased when he relaxed a fraction.

Toshiro nodded, "Ichigo is right. You can handle this. Just do your best, I'm sure you'll do great." He offered his new friend a small smile in encouragement.

Harry smiled at them, even if it was a bit strained. He was glad his new friends were so confident in him. He felt a little better about the whole thing now.

"So what dragon didja get?" Ichigo leaned over Harry, trying to see the live model of his 'opponent.'

Harry held up the moving little model, the gold beast letting out a little growl at the orange haired transfer. "The Hungarian Horntail."

Ichigo frowned a bit at the little beast when it tried to burn his face with a small jet of flame. "Seems like a nasty beast." He saw the worried look was back on Harry's face and re-insured him, "Just stay out of its reach and you'll be fine. Plus the nurse is here so if you do get a little injured she'll patch you right up."

"You'll do great Harry, just have confidence in yourself. We'll see you after the task alright?"

Harry nodded at Toshiro, who smiled at him and left the tent with Ichigo, just before the other Headmasters entered the tent to tell them the order they would compete in and catching Hermione in the process.

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><p>Toshiro and Ichigo sat together in a dark corner of the stands, a few feet away from the booth the Headmasters were sitting in. They watched as the older three champions defeated their dragons and obtained the golden egg that was their target. Ichigo yelled out at Krum for hurting his dragon, saying that he could have completed the task without injuring the innocent creature. Toshiro couldn't help but point out that the dragon <em>was<em> trying to kill him. Ichigo just grumbled that they should have let the dragon broil him, that it wouldn't be a waste. Then it was Harry's turn and they cheered with the rest of the crowd at the fourth year's ingenuity, using his fast broom to get distance between himself and the angry horntail. They stopped cheering suddenly when they felt the presence of the dragon approaching fast, moving straight for the boy still celebrating in the arena. They moved instantly, popping soul candies and leaping into the ring, leaving their bodies in the considerably less populated section of the stands they had been sitting in.

Ichigo grabbed Harry by his robes and threw him towards the nearest wall, not concerned if he got a few scrapes on the way. He tore off his translator and threw out his hands in front of him, "_Bakudo nijuuichi: __Sekienton_!" A blast of red smoke covered the whole arena, hiding it from view. The horntail screeched as it crashed loudly into the arena floor, moving too fast for it to brake and unable to see enough to land properly.

The stands were completely silent, stunned from the sudden activity. All they could hear was the angry roars of the horntail and they waited for the strange smoke to clear. When it finally did they could see the dragon picking itself off the ground on one end of the arena and two figures in black and white standing between it and Harry, who was staring at the people in front of him. There were several cries of alarm as the students saw the black clothes and thought they were death eaters. Then they noticed the differences, the figures wore strange clothes, looking similar to robes but they fit differently, almost like bathrobes but they were wearing loose black pants with white belts. They wore loose open sleeveless coats over their 'robes' with strange black symbols on the back. When the smoke cleared the audience was able to see the entire arena and were shocked when they saw the orange hair of one of the figures and the pure white hair of the other. They stared down, wondering what the Japanese transfer students were doing in the arena, and how did they get there in the first place?

The shinigami looked at each other and Ichigo gestured to the sword belted at Toshiro's waist, "_We'll have to intimidate it to make it leave Harry alone. I think facing a dragon of its own would work don't you think?"_

Toshiro frowned at the positively gleeful look on Ichigo's face but nodded, he had a point. Ichigo knew magic beasts better than he did so Toshiro would listen to him. He drew his zanpakuto, the afternoon sun reflecting off the sharp metal, "_Sit upon the frozen heavens: Hyorinmaru!" _Clouds covered the skies as ice rushed out from the hilt, covering the sword in ice and extending from the tip, changing into the shape of huge oriental dragon made of ice with glowing red eyes. The dragon circles Toshiro once with its long body before it rose several stories into the air and shrieked at the now standing horntail. The temperature immediately dropped after he released his zanpakuto, ice forming around his feet and outwards until there was a diameter of six feet of ice around him. Ichigo just grinned up at Hyorinmaru as the ice dragon flew through the sky a bit, staring down at the horntail.

Harry was stunned, what in the world was going on? First he was thrown backwards, then red smoke covered the arena and the dragon crashes, then Ichigo and Toshiro show up in the arena wearing weird clothes (and were those _swords_?), and now Toshiro made a dragon that looked like it was made of ice come from his sword! He was thoroughly confused. Toshiro and Ichigo looked completely calm as they stared down at the horntail that had just been trying to kill Harry, though considering they now had a dragon in the air above them he guessed they would feel confident.

The horntail hesitated, not sure what the strange creature was, only that it was cold and threatening it. It roared at the other beast, spewing fire at the offending creature, it was going to kill the small stick creature and get its egg back.

Hyorinmaru shrieked at the dragon again, hundreds of shards of ice shooting out from its open jaws towards the horntail. The ice and fire cancelled each other out and the horntail seemed to relax, thinking that the other beast was not stronger than it. It stepped towards the creatures in black with strange fur colors and roared at them.

Hyorinmaru struck out towards the dragon, pulling back when the other flinched away. The horntail hissed at the ice dragon and snorted flames, its eyes burning in anger.

Ichigo scowled at the horntail, "_It's getting cocky. Probably thinks it can take on Hyorinmaru. I think I'll teach it a lesson."_ He smirked as he allowed some of his reiatsu to leave his body, loosening his control on containing his massive spirit pressure. He was not even releasing a tenth of his power but the results were immediate, the air thickened to the point where everyone other than the shinigami couldn't breathe. He glanced back and saw that Harry was on his knees, gasping for breath and contained his spirit pressure once more. He turned back and saw the hesitation in the horntail's posture and grinned sadistically at it, pointing at a spot a few feet in front of the beast a small blood red orb formed in front of his fingertip, making the air thicken again, "_Bala."_ The deceptively small orb shot through the air and hit the ground a pace in front of the horntail, making the ground tremble and creating a crater in the arena floor several feet across.

Whatever the audience had been expecting, it wasn't for the little glowing ball to blast a hole through the floor and make the ground shake. They didn't know what was going on with the air, why had it seemed to thicken? Some noticed that it didn't happen until after Ichigo grinned at the dragon, did he have something to do with it? There wasn't any magic that they knew that had that affect, and he didn't have a wand on him, what was that?

The horntaail spat fire at the pair again, aiming for Toshiro. The ice dragon curled around the white haired boy, shielding him from the immense heat. When the smoke cleared the ice dragon rose up again, no worse for wear, and shrieked at the golden dragon for daring to attack its wielder.

Harry looked up at the back of Ichigo once he could breathe again, wondering just what the transfer had done. He remembered what the transfers had said on the train about their form of magic being rawer, that it was more destructive. Was that the kind of magic they did in Japan? And what was that pressure? It had been like the gravity had increased and pushed him down towards the floor, was that Ichigo's doing too? Was their magic what made that ice dragon? He looked up at the beast and saw that it looked perfectly calm even after it had just been attacked, content to float in the sky even when the air got heavier. He looked back to Ichigo to see that he had thrown his arms forward, a frown on his face, "_Bakudo rokujuuichi: __Rikujōkōrō__!" _Harry started in surprised when six thin, wide beams of light shot out from Ichigo's hands and slammed into the horntail's midsection. The dragon screeched once before it froze, seeming unable to move.

There were cries from the crowd, thinking that the lights had cut through the dragon. Ichigo relaxed however and Toshiro lowered his sword, the ice dragon disappearing before he sheathed the sword on his back. Ichigo tugged on his armband and turned to where the Headmasters sat, locking eyes with Dumbledore, "Can someone come get it now? I don't want to be holding the spell all day. It's perfectly fine, it just can't move until I release the spell."

Dumbledore turned to the handlers who had brought the dragon and they removed it from the arena, Ichigo following them and releasing the spell when it was caged. The dragon immediately roared and began thrashing around in the cage once the spell was released, showing that it was unharmed. Ichigo walked back over to Toshiro and asked Harry, "You okay?" When he nodded Ichigo walked over to the part of the stands where they had been sitting. Ichigo jumped, grabbing the edge of the eight foot wall and hauling himself up to sit on the edge before offering a hand down to Toshiro who leapt and grabbed his wrist. Ichigo lifted the smaller up easily and they walked over to their seats and sat down in their shadowed seats. When they stood they were back in their robes and they left the stands, heading back to the castle without a backwards glance.

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><p>So... Longer chapter than normal. Because it had my pathetic attempt at romance in it PLUS having people stare at Ichigo's owl (which is badass. Eagle owls are HUGE. Look them up if you like) AND I had the confrontation with the dragon.<p>

Plus fluffy crap with Ichigo and Toshiro reinsuring that Harry will not get killed by the dragon.

I don't know why I like writing about what happens in between when Harry gets the egg and when they're all in the common room and celebrating. Maybe because I doesn't actually say what happened so I can just stick whatever I want in there? I dunno. It's just fun.

So... Yeah. Hope you liked it. Don't know when I'll be done with the next chapter... I have no definite plans yet.

Oh! And just so you know, I'm not one of those writers who does a bunch of chapters ahead of time and then tortures their readers by only updating every few weeks or so. If I haven't updated, it's because it isn't done yet. I update as soon as I finish the chapter so cut me some slack.

Kido spells:

_Bakudo nijuuichi: __Sekienton_: Red Smoke Flight. Makes a red smokescreen

_Bakudo rokujuuichi: __Rikujōkōrō_: Six Staff Light Prison. Summons six long wide beams of light that slam into a target's midsection, making them unable to move any part of their body.

The spells I got off a Bleach Wiki site.

But yeah, Ichigo can do Kido now, he doesn't do incantations either. It's not like he was doing super high level Kido so he can do it. Put a Bala in there because I figured a Cero would do too much damage.

Hope you liked it. Review please?


	10. Chapter 10

I'm baaacccckkkkk! How nice for you guys.

Thanks for everyone who reviewed. I love you all.

So, this chapter: Tosh/Ichi deal with the results of last night. Yule Ball announced. And the boys ask out dates. And a little fluffy-ness in between

Hope you like it.

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter

Oh yeah, and "_this" _is when they're speaking in Japanese

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><p>Harry entered the Griffindor common room with the majority of his housemates following behind him. He had been surrounded the second he had left the arena, making him grin. He had almost managed to forget what happened with the transfers until he was halfway into the room and stopped, spying one of the subjects of the new rumors lounging in armchairs on the far side of the room. Toshiro was sitting at one of the desks, writing something fervently. He glanced up to see who had entered and went back to his paper. "I was wondering when you would get back. Good job on your task. I'm assuming your housemates have gotten over themselves?" He fixed the crowd behind Harry with one teal eye, snowy brow raised. They had the grace to flush. He looked down at the golden egg in Harry's hands with interest, "So what does that thing do anyway? Have you figured it out yet?"<p>

"What?"Harry asked, not really paying attention, still trying to wrap his head around what had happened after he got the egg. Toshiro just pointed at the egg and Harry started, "Oh that. I don't know. They just said it held a clue for the next task."

Toshiro looked at the egg as the other students gathered around Harry as he undid the clasp on the top, allowing it to open. Harry almost dropped it when the egg began shrieking, the others grabbing their ears to try and block out the sound.

"Close it!" Toshiro yelled over the high pitched noise, gripping his head with both hands.

Harry managed to close the thing and clasped it shut. He looked down at the thing in surprise; it made so much noise for something so small. How was he supposed to get a clue when he couldn't hear anything other than the shrieking?

Toshiro glared at the deceptive looking egg, still holding his head. He spotted red hair behind Harry and recognized Ron right before he blurted out his question. He gathered his things and went upstairs, not wanting to watch the mushy making up of the two best friends; he had a report to finish. Then he had to think about what Ichigo had said earlier.

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><p>Harry followed Ron down to the Great Hall at a loss for what to do about the clue in the egg. He had no idea what he was going to do, it didn't make any sense. How was he supposed to understand anything out of that screeching? Was there some spell he was supposed to use? He didn't know.<p>

Toshiro hadn't offered any explanations about what had happened yesterday either, no matter who asked him or how much they asked him. He wouldn't budge. He would either ignore the question or flat out refuse to tell them, saying that it was a form of Japanese magic and they didn't need to know. Even Hermione, who had been intrigued about the foreign magic, left him alone after he leveled his cold teal eyes on her and just stared at her for a few moments before he walked away.

Harry glanced over to see how Ichigo was being treated after yesterday and was surprised when he saw that there was at least three feet in between him and the student next to him. He looked pissed, glaring into his plate with such fury Harry was surprised it had not caught fire. Those around him were of course talking about it, as it was obvious from how they kept glancing at him every few moments. A fair number of people were talking to Viktor of course, asking him about the task but the majority of people were around Ichigo. Or at least as close as they could be. He would level a fierce glare on anyone who got too close. Harry was surprised he hadn't punched anyone from the look on his face.

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><p>Ichigo stood as soon as he was done and stalked towards the door, stopping when he saw Toshiro waiting for him with Harry a few feet away. He smirked a bit when he noticed Toshiro wasn't getting pestered with questions either. <em>He probably just ignored them until they gave up.<em> He raised an eyebrow at the small captain, "Yes?"

"Why are your housemates avoiding you again? Did they see you changing again?" Toshiro leveled his frosty stare on his companion who didn't even flinch.

Harry was impressed at how immune Ichigo seemed to Toshiro's stares. Hermione had stuttered and left Toshiro when he had used that same look on her. Ichigo just seemed amused for some reason. Harry did wonder what Toshiro meant, why would the Slytherins avoid Ichigo if they saw him changing? And they had avoided him before? He vaguely remembered something like that happening at the beginning of the year but why would seeing him change make them act weird?

"No. They did not see me changing. There was just a little incident last night with Krum." He grumbled.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed even farther, "An incident? What happened? What did you do?"

Ichigo grumbled again, "I didn't do anything. Just made Krum shut that damn egg he got from the task. Heard it all the way from my dorm. It was giving me a migraine so I just visited him and made him close it. I was perfectly nice about it."

Toshiro snorted, "Yeah right. You nice? You probably threatened him didn't you?" Ichigo looked at the paintings in the hall. "That's what I thought."

Harry was surprised Ichigo could threaten Krum. Well, there was that time when the schools had first arrived but there hadn't been any problems since. He was surprised the transfer didn't like Krum, nearly everyone else did. Toshiro seemed about as interested in Krum as Ichigo was, meaning not at all. Neither of them seemed to care about Krum's status as a Quidditch player but Harry remembered that neither had shown any interest in the wizard game in the first place. _Maybe they don't like sports? But he is pretty famous; you'd think they would think a bit better of him._

He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Ichigo leaning down and whispering something in Toshiro's ear, making the shorter boy blush all the way to his ears. He wondered what Ichigo had said to get such a reaction from the frosty student. Toshiro did not embarrass easily, as Harry found out when Toshiro found a dirty magazine that one of the other boys had snuck into the dorm. Toshiro had given the magazine a dirty look, closed it, and thrown it across the room before leaving the dorm muttering about 'adolescents.' Harry was confused, wasn't Toshiro also a teenager? And why did he have that reaction to the magazine? He acted like he had no interest in girls at all. Harry had always wondered why the white haired boy acted so old, he found himself comparing his housemate to Sirius, but Toshiro acted even more mature than his godfather.

He snuck a glance at the transfers and saw that Krum and a few of his classmates had approached Ichigo and were growling something at him. Harry wondered when they had gotten there, he hadn't heard anything. Whatever they were saying Ichigo didn't like because that murderous look was back on his face. His brows were furrowed so deep into his forehead Harry was worried his friend would give himself a headache from frowning so much.

Ichigo took one step towards the Durmstrang champion before Toshiro grabbed his arm, muttering "Calm down. You know you aren't allowed to kill anyone here. Control yourself. Soutaicho won't be happy if you kill a student. Be the more mature person Kurosaki."

Harry was as confused as the other students watching looked. Ichigo? Kill someone? He did look pissed but that he would take it so far as to actually kill someone? And Toshiro was so calm about it too! As if he wasn't talking about taking another human's life. What was with these guys?

Krum shook off his shock, figuring that they must be bluffing, and started to talk to Ichigo again, this time glancing down at Toshiro before sneering at Ichigo.

There was a blur of orange as Ichigo moved and then Krum was on the ground groaning. Only those with keener eyes could actually see what he had done, Harry one of them. He could see that some of the others who had seen what happened telling those around them. Harry couldn't believe what he had just seen; he knew Ichigo was strong, but to actually _head butt _Krum? And he looked perfectly fine! Ichigo just had a bit of blood on his forehead while Krum had a steady stream going down his face. Krum looked dizzy as he tried to look around from his place on the ground. Two of his classmates helped him to his feet and he swayed a bit before he got his balance. He stared at Ichigo with surprise written all over his face, still looking confused about what just happened. Ichigo raised an eyebrow before he cracked his neck loudly and left, Toshiro following him with a scowl.

The Great Hall was silent for moments after the two boys left until Karkaroff ran forward to make sure his star student was alright, ranting about making Dumbledore expel Ichigo for what he had done. Krum was silent for a while, still trying to figure out how the orange haired boy could move so fast and take him down with a single hit and walk away unscathed. The other students who had been watching made sure that he was okay before staring at the entryway where the two had left and moved on to their dorms.

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><p>Toshiro followed Ichigo to the storage classroom, seeing how tense the other captain's shoulders were and waiting until they were alone to call him on his actions. He had been angry at Krum's attitude as well but he had tried to ignore him. Krum mocking Toshiro after he tried to stop Ichigo had apparently been the last straw. He was glad that Ichigo had stopped after just head butting the other boy before stalking off. He was secretly pleased that Ichigo had stood up for him and that he hadn't snapped when he was being pestered, only retaliating when Krum had made fun of Toshiro.<p>

Ichigo waited for Toshiro to enter the room before he locked the door and cast a silencing charm on it, pulling off his wristband as the white haired captain turned to face him. Toshiro gave him a long stare and Ichigo just shrugged, _"Hey, you said not to kill him, I didn't. I just shut him up. He was being rude anyway."_

Toshiro sighed; he wasn't going to get anymore than that. "_What did you mean yesterday_?"

Ichigo smirked in his head, glad that the captain had been thinking about it even with his little reminder earlier before Krum had interrupted. "_What do you mean? What did I say?"_ Being purposely difficult was fun, especially when it made Toshiro get that little wrinkle in between his brows.

Toshiro knew Ichigo was messing with him, he practically radiated glee. He glared up at the other captain, _"You said you think of me as more than a friend. What do you mean by that?"_ He tried to keep the hope out of his voice, he had a feeling he knew what Ichigo had been implying but wanted to make sure.

Ichigo sighed, _is he really this thick?_ He stepped up until he was towering over Toshiro and bent down, pinning him against the large teacher's desk. He placed one arm on both of Toshiro's sides, a few inches from his arms_. "This is what I meant_," He husked as he captured the ice captain's lips with his own. He kept the kiss soft, afraid that he had been mistaken. Then Toshiro sighed and relaxed into the kiss and Ichigo thought his heart would beat out of his chest with happiness. He deepened the kiss but didn't go farther than that; he wanted to take it slow. He didn't want to rush Toshiro in case he scared him off. He didn't break the kiss until he couldn't breathe anymore and panted into the smaller captain's white mane of hair. Toshiro leaned into Ichigo's broad chest as he took deep breaths and grabbed handfuls of his robes. Ichigo was afraid he was going to smother Toshiro when the little captain looked up at him with hazy teal eyes and a flushed face. He pecked him on the lips and smiled down at him, _"I like you Toshiro."_

Toshiro flushed even darker and hid his face in Ichigo's robes, mumbling _"Sneaky bastard."_

Ichigo chuckled, _"So? Do I get an answer? I told you I like ya and I don't get any response other than that?"_

Toshiro punched the bigger male's chest lightly but still answered him, "_Like you too. Did you think I'd kiss you if I didn't?"_

Ichigo grinned at Toshiro and gave him a quick kiss before taking down the spell on the door. He grabbed one of Toshiro's hands and pressed his lips to it, _"I guess I can't go around bragging can I?"_

Toshiro flushed, shaking his head furiously. There was no way he wanted his classmates knowing about this, it was bad enough that Matsumoto was going to be spreading it around Soul Society when they got back. He frowned a bit up at Ichigo, who was actually pouting a bit and had not let go of his hand, _"No you can't. I don't want anyone here knowing about this. It'll be bad enough back home."_

Ichigo smirked but released the small hand, Toshiro had a point there, "_Yeah guess you're right Tosh. I suppose I can wait until the mission is over before we can go on dates. Can't wait to take my_ boyfriend _out in public."_

Toshiro flushed even more, if that was possible. He was sure Ichigo was going to make him pass out from too much blood going to his face. He grumbled about being called 'boyfriend' but he knew Ichigo could tell he liked it. He was looking forward to going on dates too, once the initial excitement of the other soul reapers died down. He offered Ichigo a small smile as he followed his boyfriend to the door. Ichigo stole one last kiss before they left the room, slipping on their translators as they went. Toshiro followed him after he tried to control his blush.

* * *

><p>The next couple of weeks were quiet as classes continued and the champions tried to figure out the clue contained in their golden eggs. Harry managed to hear the clue after Cedric hinted at going to the baths, as thanks for telling him about the dragons. The four champions worked to come up with a strategy for the next task, trying to decipher the riddle.<p>

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><p>It was during the first week of December when Dumbledore announced that the Yule Ball would be held on Christmas Eve and that all of the champions were required to have a partner to lead the first dance. Fourth years and up would be the ones to attend so Ron and Hermione could attend if they wished. Apparently younger students could also go if they went with a student who was old enough. Harry and Ron grimaced at the thought of not only having to take dancing lessons but also asking a girl to go with them.<p>

Toshiro wasn't all that concerned about the Ball since he already knew how to ballroom dance. He had learned a few years ago when he had a subordinate who knew the traditional dances and taught anyone who wished to learn. Toshiro had found it interesting and had learned the major dances that he could execute almost flawlessly. He figured he might as well go to the Ball, it seemed like it might be interesting. He glanced over to see what Ichigo thought and chuckled. Ichigo looked incredibly bored, seeming completely oblivious to the girls at his table and quite a few at the other tables gazing at him. They were probably fantasizing about him asking them to the Ball. Toshiro was well aware of how popular his fellow captain was but wasn't worried, Ichigo would never lead on any of the girls, they were too young for him, even if they didn't know it.

Toshiro wondered who he would ask to go with him, since it seemed like it would be more enjoyable with someone else. Toshiro was fairly popular himself, more with the younger girls because he looked so young, he was sure one of them would go with him if he asked. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and saw a younger girl in a Beauxbatons uniform looking at him. She looked much too young to be at the school, she only looked to be seven or eight years old. He saw that she was sitting next to the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur, and they looked incredibly alike. He figured the girl must be the champion's younger sister; she must have received special permission to come. The girl noticed that he was looking at her and offered a tentative but bright smile. He smiled a bit back at her and she flushed lightly.

The girl looked over at her sister and said something to her, because the older girl turned her gaze on Toshiro. Her eyes swept over him, as if judging him, before giving a minute nod and smiling at her sister. The older sister turned back to where she had been looking earlier and Toshiro followed her gaze. _Ooh, just great. _She was looking straight at Ichigo with a dazed look on her face. She gave a little sigh and started talking to her sister again.

Toshiro stood once he was finished and walked over the entrance to wait for Ichigo. The orange haired boy raced over to Toshiro, avoiding the girls staring after him with stars in their eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Toshiro's thoughtful look, "What?"

Toshiro gestured to where Fleur was sitting and Ichigo glanced over, making the girl blush when she saw him looking her way, "You have another one. Who are you taking to the dance? I assume you do know how to dance?"

Ichigo scowled, "Of course I know how to dance. I can do a couple. I had Yoruichi teach me a few years ago. She's a good teacher. And I have no idea who I'll take. I'd rather just not bother and go by myself but I doubt that would go over well."

Toshiro chuckled, "Yeah. The girls would tear you to shreds when they found out you went date-less."

Ichigo shuddered then scratched his head, "Yeah I figured. Who are you takin? That little French girl? I saw you lookin at her earlier. Did you figure you'd ask her so she could go with her sister? Because she's not old enough to go by herself."

Toshiro was surprised Ichigo had noticed, "Yeah I thought I would. I thought she'd like to go and she looks nice enough."

"She's apparently a little angel." Toshiro gave him a shocked look, "Based on what I've heard. My housemates are such gossips. I heard she's only seven but she got special permission to come because of her sister. Her and her sis are apparently part Veela, whatever that is. Some other race I'm assuming."

Toshiro nodded, he knew what Veela were but they weren't very common. "Yeah I heard something like that too. I think I'll ask her. We'll need to get dress wear though; I didn't bring any with me of course. I don't own any European dress wear anyway. Next Hogsmeade visit?"

Ichigo nodded and they walked out of the Great Hall, "Yeah, I don't have any suits that fit me anymore. It's been years since I've worn anything particularly fancy, might be a nice change of pace. I should have enough money left over from the bank, we should be fine. At least we don't have to take those damn dance lessons, though it might be fun to watch the boys try to learn. Weasly would be hilarious. Wonder what those two are gonna do about dates? They're hopeless with girls; they'll probably put it off till the last minute. Idiots."

Toshiro couldn't help but agree with him, Harry and Ron really did not know what they were doing. He wondered if they would outgrow it, if it was just adolescent awkwardness. He wouldn't put it off; he would ask Fleur's sister, her name was apparently Gabrielle, sometime this week. He had no reason to wimp out, he would ask her before someone else could. He figured Ichigo would ask someone out as soon as he found someone who he could tolerate.

* * *

><p>The next few days were chaos, girls giggling and talking about who they wanted to ask them to the Ball and what they were going to wear. The younger girls could just hope that one of the older boys would ask them since that was the only way for them to attend. Harry and Ron were acting exactly as Toshiro had known they would, being anxious and muttering about girls traveling in packs. Girls were literally lining up for Ichigo, or at least positioning themselves in his sight to try and get him to ask them. He paid them no mind, trying to figure out who he would be able to stand for several hours.<p>

Toshiro made good on his decision; approaching Gabrielle the second day after the date of the Ball was announced. He walked right up to her when she was standing with a group of Beauxbatons and a few Hogwarts girls and asked her if she could spare a moment. The girls had stopped their conversation and looked down at the short Griffindor. He ignored the other girls, staring straight at Gabrielle with his piercing teal eyes. She agreed and walked a few feet away with him, flushing. He asked her right out, seeing no need to avoid the question. She agreed shakily, nodding enthusiastically and walking back to the group of girls with her face dark red. She looked back at Toshiro who offered her a small smile before he spun on his heel and walked on, joining up with Ichigo who had watched the whole exchange and offered his boyfriend a sly grin.

He followed his boyfriend as they headed to their last class of the day, one they shared, before dinner. Toshiro glanced over at his boyfriend and muttered, "Her sister seems to want you to ask her. She's apparently already been asked by Roger Davies, a sixth year Ravenclaw, but she told him she would think about it. Gabrielle says she's waiting to see if you ask her. Davies is her fall back plan. You might as well; she's probably going to be as tolerable as any other girl at this school. Unless you ask Hermione or Ginny but they both already have dates."

Ichigo just grumbled but didn't deny what Toshiro said. He'd go ahead and ask her later. Sometime next week, after the weekend Hogsmeade visit.

* * *

><p>Toshiro and Ichigo walked around Hogsmeade that Saturday, looking for a store that had formal wear. They found one a few stores aware from the Three Broomsticks and went in to browse. They bounced suggestions off each other and ended up with suits that fit them very well. They split up for an hour to shop for Christmas things and just to look around by themselves. They met up later at the Three Broomsticks for mugs of butterbeer. Neither were going to show the other what they had bought, that would ruin the surprise.<p>

* * *

><p>The following week passed much like the last, with the girls walking around in groups so a boy would have to get up his courage to ask her to the Ball. Toshiro witnessed a painful rejection when Ron blurted out an invitation to Fleur and immediately ran away bright red. Toshiro thought Harry got what he deserved when he asked Cho and she already was going with Cedric, he waited too long. Well he did manage to ask the Patil twins out for himself and Ron, now if only he could manage to learn how to dance properly he'll be alright.<p>

Toshiro and Ichigo were standing by one of the entryways to the courtyard, not really bothered by the cold of December. Toshiro stared hard at his boyfriend before turning his gaze on where Fleur and a few of her classmates were talking. She was trying to sneak glances at the tall transfer but was being pretty obvious about it, at least to Toshiro who was used to observing everything. Toshiro sighed and shoved his companion towards the girls and glared at him when he didn't immediately head over.

Ichigo just sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win against Toshiro. He walked over to the girls, who had silenced immediately when they noticed his approach, and just asked the champion, "Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me? I haven't found anyone to go with yet."

The last sentence made the girls look at him with confusion, they could name a dozen different girls who would go with him if he asked. They turned to Fleur then, who was slowly turning red but trying to look dignified and unaffected, it wasn't very convincing. "It would be my pleasure." Ichigo took her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles, "I'll see you then." He smirked and pivoted to return to where Toshiro was waiting, ignoring the squealing of the girls behind him.

Toshiro gave him a long look. Ichigo just raised an eyebrow, "What? You wanted me to ask her and I did. Can we go now?"

He didn't wait and walked off towards his dorm, he needed a nap. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>So there ya go. I switched it up, had our beloved shinigami take the Delacour siblings to the ball. Because I could. And I didn't feel like finding some other girl for Ichi to go with. Ichi needs attention. going with Fleur will give him attention.<p>

And Tosh is going with the younger Delacour because I thought it would be a good way to let her go to the Ball since she's not old enough. Don't know how she got into the ball in the book/movie so I made up my reason.

Hope you liked it. Review please? Give me suggestions if you want about what Ichi and Tosh will be wearing to the ball, I already have some ideas but comments are always welcome!


	11. Chapter 11

New chapter! I felt I made you all wait long enough.

I lie, it just took me forever to write this chapter.

Oh well, it's done now, so yay!

Not sure when the next chapter will be out, I don't plan things, I write when I get ideas.

Disclaimer: What do you think? Of course I don't own Bleach OR Harry Potter. If I did do you think I'd be in college? My name is neither J.K Rowling nor Tite Kubo so NO, I don't own these things. Just my story. Jeezeums. What do you all take me for? Whatever. Enjoy your story.

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><p>Ichigo focused entirely on his breakfast, ignoring the sad little sighs the girls would let out every time they glanced at him. Word had clearly gotten out about his asking Fleur to the dance, not that he was that surprised. Girls could never keep quiet about things like dances, they had to go around and tell everyone who would listen about what guy had asked them to the dance.<p>

And so the majority of the girls in the school were busy sighing over his going with the French champion. They figured even the stoic transfer couldn't resist the French girl's Veela charm. If only they knew that it was actually Toshiro, who was taking Fleur's sister Gabrielle, who he was in a relationship with. Not that he cared if people knew just what side of the fence he played, Toshiro didn't want the people at school to know. Ichigo respected Toshiro's wishes, the smaller captain was a very private person and it would be loud enough when they got back to Sereitei once Matsumoto found out they got together.

A fair number of girls were sighing over Toshiro's also having a date, mostly the younger girls, since he looked so young. If only they knew Toshiro was even older than Dumbledore; that would throw them for a loop.

Ichigo didn't care that Toshiro was so much older than he was, despite the fact that Ichigo looked older. They were both souls, both captains, and in the same position in Soul Society. It was not unheard of in Soul Society for people to date when there was such a large age difference between them. Not that Ichigo intended to let the wizards know just how old Toshiro was; it would draw too much attention. Not that he would be surprised, finding out that a boy who looks ten or eleven was actually well over a century would come as a great shock. The only ones who did know that Toshiro was older than Ichigo was the teachers because Ichigo had told them himself that he was the youngest captain and was over 30, implying that Toshiro was even older. He doubted that they had actually processed the meaning of his words and most likely still thought that Toshiro was around his age. They were way off but Ichigo wasn't about to enlighten them, they either understood or they didn't.

A familiar screech alerted him to the fact that the owls had entered the hall and he looked up, simultaneously bringing one arm upwards as a perch for his eagle owl. Kuro flapped her huge wings to slow her descent, actually smacking a girl who had been sitting too close to Ichigo with one black wing. The girl squeaked but withdrew when Kuro turned unblinking orange eyes on her.

He chuckled softly at the look on the girl's face and turned his attention to his pet "Hey Kuro, you got something for me?" The bird swiveled her head to her beloved master and raised her right foot where two packages were tied. He relieved her of her burden and ran his fingers through her feathers with his free hand. She hooted softly and he fed her a piece of sausage, which earned him a click of her beak in thanks. He tore open one of the packages, only a bit, and spotted blood red fabric. Recognizing the color, he picked up the other and stood, Kuro flapping her wings to keep her balance. "Oy Toshiro!" He yelled. The white haired captain turned and he threw the wrapped package at him. Toshiro snatched it out of the air before it could brain someone, it was moving very fast, and tore back a bit of the wrapping. He recognized the fabric and nodded in thanks before turning back to his meal.

Ichigo grinned and sat, giving Kuro pieces of sausage every few minutes while he ate. He finally finished and stood, walking out of the hall with Kuro still perched on his shoulder. One of the Slytherin girls reached out to stop him and Kuro swiveled her head around and shrieked at the girl, making her withdraw her hand. Ichigo wanted to just be with Kuro for a while, he treated his owl as more than just a postal service and liked her quite a bit, and he fully intended to bring her back to Soul Society with him.

* * *

><p>Toshiro found his boyfriend in the empty classroom the pair used for their private use after he finished breakfast. Ichigo was reading through one of his textbooks with Kuro on his shoulder. The bird looked at him for a second before it went back to running her beak through Ichigo's flaming hair. "Hey Toshiro," Ichigo mumbled without looking up. Kuro flapped her wings and Ichigo turned to her. She ruffled her feathers and Ichigo twitched his wand, opening the door and threw her into the air. The bird flew out of the room and Ichigo stood and stretched. Toshiro wondered how he had known what the bird wanted, then dismissed it as part of Ichigo's strange connection with the bird.<p>

Ichigo saw the package in Toshiro's hand and smirked, "Gonna show me your suit? You were all sneaky at the shop, not showing me your outfit for the ball."

Toshiro scowled, "No I am not going to show it to you. You didn't show me your suit designs either, so you have no right to talk about being sneaky."

Ichigo chuckled and approached his boyfriend, "Yeah, but I did it because I thought I'd surprise you. Didn't want you blushing up a storm in the store, you'd embarrass yourself."

Toshiro flushed, "Who's embarrassed?" He defended.

Ichigo looped his arms around the smaller captain, "No one," he soothed, bringing the other closer. "I just wanted it to be a surprise; I figured your reaction is going to be the only tolerable one. I am not looking forward to all the girls drooling over me at the dance; I wouldn't go if I thought I could get away with it."

Toshiro admitted he had a point. Once he had danced the opening dance with Fleur he was sure to be mobbed with girls. "You'd never be able to escape. Some girl would get you to go somehow. I would fear for your life if you tried to avoid it, girls can be scary."

Ichigo shuddered and hugged Toshiro closer, making him blush. "Exactly why I don't like dealing with girls. At least the women at home can be serious when they need to be, the girls here probably don't know the meaning of professional. Why do you think I never went out with a girl before?"

"I always thought Inoue was interested in you. Rukia too, she _did _live in your closet for several months. I'm surprised neither of them asked you out." It had always seemed strange to him how the girls acted around Ichigo.

"Yeah, I've known Inoue's had a crush on me for the longest time. Luckily she never confessed so I never had to refuse her. Rukia….. I don't know. She's like another sister to me. I'm pretty sure she likes Renji anyway. If any other girls liked me I never knew, because none approached me. I'm glad they didn't because I don't really want to go out with anyone I don't really like." He rested his chin on Toshiro's head and sighed.

"What about me?" Toshiro asked out of nowhere.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and lifted his head to look down at him, seeing the concerned look on his face, he hurried to assure him, "I've liked you for a while, just didn't act on it because I wasn't sure of how you felt. I'd rather not confess to someone I work with if I'm not sure they're going to shoot me down immediately. It would be really awkward being around someone after they rejected you, you know?"

Toshiro relaxed a bit, glad that Ichigo had thought it out before asking him out. He nodded and Ichigo smiled softly, making Toshiro's heart squeeze.

"Anyway, it took a while for me to notice that you might like me. Matsumoto had been telling me for years that you liked me back but I wasn't sure if I could trust what she said."

"She told me the same thing. I thought she was just saying it to make me happy. She was unusually persistent about it which was weird, but apparently she was right." He hugged Ichigo back, smiling into the taller's chest.

"Yeah," Ichigo chuckled, perfectly happy to stand there and hold his boyfriend. This mission was a good thing after all.

They stood together for a few minutes, enjoying the other's company, before they separated and gave each other a small smile. Ichigo's eyes flashed and a mischievous look spread across his face. Toshiro gave him a wary look that just made him laugh. "Let's go see how Harry is doing with his dance lessons." He smirked at the wry smile that bloomed on Toshiro's face and added, "I hear McGonagall is the instructor."

Toshiro chuckled at the thought of their friend learning to formal dance from McGonagall. He nodded and they made their way to the empty classroom that was used as a temporary dance hall.

They arrived to the room without incident and leant in the open doorway, content in watching the attempts of their classmates. All of the boy's (minus the shinigami) who were going to the ball were lined up along the wall as if to avoid McGonagall's eyes. They chuckled quietly at the awkward looks on all of the boy's faces as the Transfiguration professor tried to explain the dance steps. Ichigo burst out laughing when she picked Ron to be first and he looked back at his friends with desperation written all over his face.

The boys turned to look at the pair, a few scowling as Toshiro tried to keep Ichigo from falling over from laughing too hard. McGonagall stopped her instruction and released Ron, who thankfully retreated to where Harry was standing, "Is there something amusing about my lessons Mr. Kurosaki?"

Ichigo finally managed to control himself and wiped the tears from his eyes, he took a deep breath, still chuckling, before he could answer her, "Not your lessons, they are fine. The expressions on the guys faces though, priceless. They couldn't look more disgruntled if they tried." He started chuckling again while Toshiro just shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

McGonagall still looked miffed, "And why are you not in these lessons Mr. Kurosaki? And Mr. Hitsugaya? You are attending the ball are you not? I was aware that you are taking the Delacour siblings, am I wrong?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No, you're right. I'm taking Fleur and Tosh is taking Gabrielle. We aren't in your lessons because we don't need them." He ignored the jealous looks on the boys' faces at his reminder that he was attending the ball with the French champion.

"Don't need them? What do you mean?"

Toshiro answered for both of them, "Exactly what Ichigo said. We don't need your lessons because we already know how to dance formally. We have been educated in the traditional dances and can perform several of them with no difficulty."

The boys stared at them in shock. Even among purebloods, knowing formal dances wasn't very common, yet two no name transfer students from Japan knew more than one?

"I see… Would you demonstrate your knowledge then? If you are confident in your ability that is." McGonagall still wasn't completely sure that they were telling the truth even with the confidence on their faces.

Ichigo shrugged, a bored look on his face, "Sure, why not. I could use the practice." He stepped forward with a confident grin and stood in front of McGonagall. "Shall we?"

She took his offered hand and he placed his other hand on her waist with no sign of discomfort. He swung her into a waltz as soon as the music started up, leading her around the room perfectly. She followed his lead, not needing to correct any of his steps or posture and found herself enjoying the dance. He was telling the truth when he said he could dance well.

The dance ended and he bowed to her while she curtsied. He smiled charmingly at her and asked, "Well?" Knowing full well what she thought. Yoruichi had been very thorough in her lessons, as with all her teachings and he had no doubt of his performance.

"Very well done, I believe Miss Delacour will be pleased with her dance partner. You are right, you do not need to participate in the lessons." She offered a very small smile at him, one he seemed to notice and made him smile wider. She did not smile very often but she had enjoyed the dance, a surprise considering his apparent age. She could not think of him as being any older than he looked, despite what he had said at their first meeting.

"Thanks. And Toshiro can dance just as well as I can. I can assure you. He's had even more practice than I have. See you later professor." He swung around and walked out, his white haired companion following at her nod.

* * *

><p>Rumors of the transfers' actions in the dance hall spread like wildfire through the student body, making the girls want to dance with him at the ball even more and making the boys grumble about how they didn't have to take the lessons. The Great hall was loud with students voicing their opinions of the two transfers. Ichigo and Toshiro walked in together and separated to sit at their house tables, ignoring the looks and whispers directed at them.<p>

Harry scooted closer to his friend, "Hey, Toshiro?"

The white haired boy turned to look at him, one snowy eyebrow raised.

"How do you know how to dance so well?"

"I took lessons with someone from my 'school' a few years ago. Then I reviewed a bit with the person who taught Ichigo how to dance and learned a few more dances. I figured it would be a good skill to have just in case I needed it. Clearly I was right since I need it here. I rather like dancing, Ichigo didn't at first, since his mentor basically forced the lessons on him, but then he came to like it. He dances better than I do and it has helped him with our magic, since you need control and concentration. He wasn't going to go to the ball at first but I figured if he didn't he wouldn't be happy, it's not every day that he gets to use his dance skills." Toshiro looked thoughtful as he looked over at where said student was, scowling into his plate at the extra attention.

"Why wouldn't he go to the ball?" Hermione wondered.

Toshiro turned to her, "He thought it would be a pain. Still thinks it is. He knows how popular he is and how many girls are going to bother him at the dance. It makes the guys jealous of him also, which doesn't make it any easier for him. He has no interest in any of the girls and doesn't treat them like he does, but it doesn't change what the guys think. I have the same problem, but it's more with the younger students, but they are too young to get too interested in anyone, which is easier on me. Ichigo was going to avoid the ball all together but he knew there was no way he'd be able to get away with it when girls found out he wasn't going to go."

Harry glanced at Hermione, surprised that the transfers knew full well how popular they were and didn't act on it. From what Toshiro said it seemed Ichigo didn't care about being popular. He certainly didn't act snobbish like other popular people did, which was refreshing.

"It's not like we care about being popular," Toshiro continued, as if he knew what Harry had been thinking, "We're only going to be at Hogwarts for the year so we didn't want to grow too attached. But of course Ichigo has to draw attention where ever he goes, I guess it's just in his nature, people can't leave him alone."

That gave Harry and Hermione something to stew over for a while. The transfers were only going to stay for the year and still acted friendly with everyone, yet they said they wouldn't get attached. Did that mean they were pretending to be friendly? Or they just would be able to deal with leaving their new friends so easily? And why did they act like leaving new friends was common for them? Did they do things like this often?

Harry was about to voice his questions when Toshiro suddenly straightened and shot a look over at where Ichigo was sitting at the Slytherin table. The taller boy had reacted the same as Toshiro and they shot out of their seats simultaneously, heading for the doors without a glance around them.

The students stared after the transfers, still not used to their abrupt and seemingly random departures. Harry glanced up at the head table and winced at the furious look on Karkaroff's face. _That does not bode well for Toshiro and Ichigo. Who knows what he thinks they're doing. The fact that Dumbledore looks completely okay with it probably isn't helping._ He hoped his new friends wouldn't get into too much trouble with the northern Headmaster.

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop when the ground suddenly shook, a loud rumbling coming from somewhere outside the castle. All talk quieted as the ground continued to shake for several seconds, leaving the Great Hall ominously silent once the rumbling died down and the ground stilled once again. Students and teachers both looked around the room, trying to discover what caused the ground to shake so.

Harry noticed the slightly concerned look on Dumbledore's face which just became more obvious when a shrieking howl cut through the silent hall. Those in the hall stilled once more, chills running down their spines at that cry. No one recognized the sound, not even Hagrid or Madame Maxine, who actually looked more disturbed by the sound than the others.

Another howl echoed through the Great Hall but cut off suddenly, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Dumbledore stood and spoke, his voice clear in the completely silent hall, "I would ask for all students to return to your dorms while the staff investigates the…. Disturbance. Please remain in your dorms until we have made sure whatever is near the school is not a threat or is driven away. Please make haste and stay together." With that he swept out of the room, all members of the Head table following him. The house prefects and head boys and girls ushered the students towards their dorms quickly, not wishing to dawdle in the hall with some mystery creature nearby.

It wasn't until Harry was in the Griffindor common room that he realized Toshiro wasn't there. He hadn't actually seen either of the transfers come back to the hall before they were evacuated from the Great hall. "What about Toshiro?" He asked the Head boy, who looked around for any sign of the transfer. "He didn't come back! What if he gets hurt?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hermione tried to sooth him, though her eyes were worried. "He's with Ichigo. Plus the professors are searching the grounds; if he's outside I'm sure they'll find him. Dumbledore won't let anything happen to him."

Harry calmed a bit, but couldn't help be worried for his friend. _What was he doing going outside right before the monster roared? He couldn't have gone outside on purpose?_ He sat on one of the couches in the common room, twiddling his thumbs idly as he waited impatiently for his friend to return.

* * *

><p>Ichigo and Toshiro ran into the staff on their way back to the castle. Well, Dumbledore and the others ran into <em>them<em>, the captains were walking leisurely back to school. They gave the adults (physically at least) weird looks as the wizards and witches caught their breaths. Toshiro tilted his head to once side in what Ichigo thought was adorable and asked, "What are you all doing out here?"

They stared at the short captain incredulously. He didn't seem worried in the slightest from the roaring. McGonagall was the one to blurt out (which was uncommon enough for her), "We are here to look for the creature!"

Ichigo merely rose one eyebrow, "Creature? What are you talking about?"

"That roaring!" That was Karkaroff, making Ichigo scowl at his tone, as if it should be obvious and the captains were stupid for not knowing what he meant.

"Roaring?" Ichigo parroted. Then understanding lit in his eyes, "Oh that! It's nothing major. Just a hollow. We get them all the time in Japan. Me and Tosh took care of it. No sweat."

They gaped while he just grinned cockily. Madame Maxine looked confused, " 'ollow? Vat is a 'ollow?" she was not familiar with any magical creature called a hollow. Hagrid looked just as confused as she did, despite all his years of study in magical creatures.

Toshiro turned his cool teal eyes on them, his gaze weighing them, before he answered, "They are monsters that attack spirits in Japan. Students from our Academy are taught how to slay them and are tasked with protecting souls of spirits and mortals."

They startled at that. Students? Being taught to kill monsters? What sort of school did they go to? The finally noticed that the pair was not wearing the robes they had on minutes ago.

"What are you wearing?"

"When did you change?"

"Why would you change?"

Ichigo smirked at how three of the teachers had managed to ask their questions at almost the same time. He pulled a bit on his white _haori_, "These are the uniforms for our Academy. We changed before we left school. And we changed because this is the clothing formally worn by those from our Academy when slaying hollows."

They eyed the clothing the boys wore dubiously. They weren't that different from the outer robes Hogwarts student wore. They wore loose black pants and strange white two-toed socks with sandals. The sleeves of their baggy shirts went to their elbows and were trimmed in white, crossed over in the front and belted down with a strip of white cloth along with an open sleeveless white coat that reached to their knees. There were slight differences in the boys' outfits: Toshiro's pants were more creased and his sleeves not as loose as Ichigo's, Ichigo also had a red strap made of interlocking triangles across his chest while Toshiro had a green scarf and a circular pin across his.

They also wore swords. Toshiro's was sheathed on his back, both ends of the sheath tied to the ends od the green scarf across his chest and Ichigo's tucked into his belt at his waist. Toshiro's had a purple wrapped handle and a guard in the shape of a four point star while Ichigo's handle was black and his guard a simple rectangle with thick, jagged edges.

The teachers wondered if they were actually real and Professor Sprout asked, "You killed the hollow with those?" She pointed to their swords.

The captains shared a look at their dubious faces. They had apparently forgotten everything they had told them in September when they introduced themselves. Ichigo smirked and unsheathed his sword, positioning it so that the dim rays of the setting sun reflected off the blade, showing how real they were, "Yeah. Physical attacks work so much better than magic. Spells take too long. Why bother chant out a spell when you can just kill the damn thing in half the time? That's why our school teaches sword fighting techniques as well as spells."

"Our skills in swords and magic are why we were chosen to study at Hogwarts for the year," Toshiro added. "We can handle hollows easily. Our magic is more effective against hollows than yours is so we were transferred to fend off hollows since there had apparently been an increase in the number of hollows since October." He took in the startled, slightly afraid looks on the teachers and headmasters' faces and assured them, "Your students are perfectly safe. We have been taking down each and every hollow that has shown up during the past few months. We had to leave classes a few times but we have not fallen back on our school work so there are no issues. We predict that the hollows will no longer show up once the other schools leave, it is the increased amount of people at Hogwarts that is causing there to be so many hollows." That seemed to calm the visiting Headmasters and most of the teachers. Toshiro shrugged, knowing there was no way he would be able to make all of them content with the situation, and turned briefly to Ichigo, who sheathed his sword. "Well, if you are all caught up, we are going back to the castle. We still have homework to do, life does not stop just because there are hollows to kill." He walked away without another word, Ichigo behind him as they returned to the castle.

The teachers just stared after the pair, still shocked by the thought of _students_ fighting monsters.

Dumbledore was the first to collect himself, remembering bits and pieces of what the transfers had said back in September, "Well, I believe we should be returning to the school to inform our students that all is well." That got the others' attention and they followed the aged man back to the castle, trying to wrap their heads around the new information.

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><p>No one breathed when the portrait-door to the Griffindor common room swung open, the eyes of all the students inside fixed on the short corridor. Toshiro just blinked at them, face completely blank, though one snowy eyebrow rose as he stared back at his housemates. Then he was being surrounded by children all shouting questions at him.<p>

"Woah, woah, WOAH!" He finally silenced them, with a rare yell. He looked around at them as if they were crazy. "What was _that _about?"

"What happened?"

"Where did you go?"

"Did you see the monster?"

"Is it gone?"

The questions just kept coming and he whipped his head around, staring at the insistent faces that still surrounded him. "I don't know what happened. I was outside taking a walk with Ichigo. I didn't see anything. I heard it and Dumbledore said it was gone so yes." He answered them quickly, gazing at the stairs leading to his dorm room, "Can I go to bed now?" He asked desperately, faking the exhaustion in his tone but not the desperation. He _really_ didn't want to stand here and be bombarded with questions all night, as his housemates seemed all too ready to do.

Hermione noticed the look in his eyes and drove the others off, telling them they should have been in bed already and to leave Toshiro alone. He nodded to her thankfully and escaped to his bed, he didn't want to deal with the students. He had no intention of telling the students that he and Ichigo had been the ones to kill the hollow, letting them think he had no idea what was going on was so much easier. He drifted off to sleep, feeling slightly sorry for anyone who had to deal with Ichigo after his housemates pestered him into answering their questions; they would not get off easy from an irritated Ichigo.

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><p>Toshiro was, of course, right about Ichigo. Everyone except Toshiro avoided the flame haired boy for weeks after the hollow's presence. Ichigo had radiated irritation for days after and give anyone who came close with an inquisitive look on their face dirty looks, making it clear that he was <em>not<em> going to talk about what happened.

Dumbledore did not give an explanation for what the creature had been; only reassuring the students that it was gone and was not going to come back. This had satisfied those who had been afraid of the noise the monster made, terrified of what such a creature capable of making such a sound would look like. Those more curious had tried, unsuccessfully, to get any information out of their teachers who, actually, had never seen the beasts themselves and weren't able to enlighten their students even if they wanted to. A few teachers, Hagrid and Madame Maxine especially, had approached the transfers in the attempt to get a description of what the creatures looked like. The captains sidestepped all of their questions, only explaining that, "they would know if they saw them," which really didn't explain anything. They gave up when their efforts were met with expressionless faces and hard eyes. They weren't getting anything out of these two.

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><p>The fuss about the mysterious monster died down after a few weeks, thanks to the approaching Yule Ball. Girls were even more excited about the fast approaching dance and guys even more grumpy and nervous about their dance skills. Ichigo and Toshiro simply watched the drama unfold, staying clear of any situation that might escalate into something that would draw attention, they had had enough of that already.<p>

Ichigo stood with Toshiro at the entrance to the ballroom, waiting for their dates to arrive. The girls who passed them to enter the hall stared shamelessly at the pair. Ichigo was dressed in a black suit that fit close to his thin muscled body, accentuating his wide shoulders and narrow waist. He wore a blood red dress shirt and a skinny black tie under his blazer, the serious colors complimenting the sharp features of his face. Toshiro was dressed in a spotless tuxedo, complete with white dress shirt and black bow tie. The formal clothing making him look older than his physical appearance and strangely suiting him, the black a nice contrast with his spiky white hair and intense teal eyes.

Toshiro was trying not to blush at the looks his boyfriend was giving him, his brown eyes trailing down the smaller boy's body with an appreciative light. The deeper, darker light in Ichigo's eyes, however, wasn't helping Toshiro's case. Toshiro shuddered lightly at the hunger in those eyes and saw a smirk spread across the taller's face. He avoided Ichigo's eyes and instead took in the orangette's clothing. He thought Ichigo had excellent taste in clothing and was slightly surprised by how good his boyfriend looked since Ichigo had picked out the design for his suit himself. _He obviously knows what looks good on him. it's kind of weird seeing him in tighter clothes, considering I've been seeing him in shihakushos for years. He does look nice though, very handsome. _He flushed at his own thoughts and frowned at Ichigo, who was still smirking at him, refusing to meet his eyes.

Arms were suddenly around him, pulling him back into a wide chest, "Aww, c'mon Tosh," The deep voice of his boyfriend rumbled, "Ya can't blame me for staring, you look good. If I didn't have a date I'd snatch you up right now."

Toshiro knew he was being completely honest, which just made him flush harder, and he grumbled, "Let go of me before someone sees. I don't want any more attention than we already get." He honestly didn't want Ichigo to let go of him just yet but he knew that if someone saw them, there would be more rumors. He was tired of rumors and didn't want to encourage anyone.

He could practically feel the scowl on Ichigo face and he huffed, releasing Toshiro, "Fine," he grumbled, "But I get to cuddle with you later. Away from all the screaming hormonal teenage girls." He moved a few feet away and leant back against the wall, wondering why girls took so long to get ready.

The girls finally arrived together, the sisters in matching blue-grey dresses and buns. Gabrielle gave Toshiro a shy smile, blushing slightly, but her sister was not so lucky, she was bright red as she stared at Ichigo. The redhead just looked down at her with a blank face before he held out a hand for her, "Shall we?" She nodded, rendered unable to speak from his deep voice, and took his hand. He led her into the hall, Toshiro with Gabrielle following close behind. The crowd parted before them as they approached the front of the room where the headmasters were waiting.

Ichigo bowed low to the three school heads, sensing Toshiro do the same on the side opposite Fleur, and straightened to walk to the side. Dumbledore announced the beginning of the dance and Ichigo swept Fleur onto the floor without hesitation, feeling that the peace would be over once this dance ended. He led his date around the ballroom floor perfectly, dreading the fate that would befall him once he stepped off the dance floor.

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><p>Yay it's finished! Not the story, the chapter. It was kind of a pain to write. Well, its done now.<p>

Sooo... Next chapter... the captains give each other Christmas gifts. I have ideas but suggestions are always welcome.

Also next chapter, second task. Our favorite soul reapers don't have much of an effect on them, just something I have planned for them before the task starts... Swimming anyone? I need to think of what scars the boys'll have... Help please?

You read, now review please. I love feedback. I really do. Give me suggestions, tell me what you like about the story, what you don't like, or what you want to see in future chapters. I am open to all suggestions and welcome them. The more reviews and ideas I get, the faster I update.

I'm out. Review please? With mint chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup and brownie bits on top? (See I'm original (Not really, just bored, which leads to weird-ness))

But seriously, review please. K. NOW I'm out. For real this time. Lame author note rant over.


	12. Chapter 12

OKAY. So I'm terrible for making you all think I updated when I didn't. Some of you pointed out some screw ups on my part. I forgot about Hermione and Ron being 'missing' for the second task and had them on the docks. I fixed it so all is well.

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><p>Another long as fuck chapter. At least this one didn't take nearly as long as the last one. Good for you all.<p>

Thanks to everyone who reviewed but I'm gonna be selfish and say I WANT MORE. I want everyone who reads this to review! Cuz I get to be childish and demanding like that.

But yeah... new chapter. CHRISTMAS! Everyone likes Christmas! Except when you get reminded of being practically jumped at the ball last night... Yeah, I made Ichi have a rough night.

And when I was asking for presents I meant between Ichigo and Toshiro, not for the other captains... But thank you for those who did suggest things. At least you cared enough to offer suggestions, which I appreciate.

So! This chapter! I wrote it in one day, so... good?

I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter or any of the things I write fanfics about!

Enjoy your chapter. And REVIEW! And I mean REAL reviews, not just asking me to update, though those are better than nothing I suppose.

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><p>Ichigo resisted the urge to chuck his alarm clock at a wall when its shrill call woke him Christmas morning. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and gazed blearily around him. His dorm room was very quiet thanks to the majority of students going home for the holiday. He and Toshiro had no intention of leaving the school for any of the breaks and had plans to spend the quiet few days together.<p>

He dragged himself out of bed and dressed in casual clothes, light blue skinny jeans and a skin-tight long sleeved green shirt. He was going to enjoy not having to wear his uniform for a few days, they weren't very comfortable. He ran a hand through his spiky hair which removed the few tangles it had obtained from his sleep and made his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The huge room was thankfully quiet, a relief compared to the ball room last night, and he sat at his usual spot at the Slytherin table. There were only a handful of students who were staying for the holiday, the guest schools had gone home leaving around a dozen Hogwarts students scattered among the four tables.

Toshiro entered the room and walked over to sit with Ichigo at the Slytherin table, ignoring the few gasps of shock from the other students. They had clearly not expected anyone to sit at any other house table other than their own, much less with Slytherin. Toshiro offered his boyfriend a small smile, which the other returned."Rough night?" he knew full well how Ichigo's night had gone but still wanted his opinion on it.

Ichigo grimaced, "Nightmare more like." He groaned and ran his hands through his hair before rubbing his face tiredly, "I will never go to a dance with children again. Never. I think I've dealt with enough drama and hormones to last me for the next century."

Toshiro chuckled, knowing he meant exactly what he said. Toshiro had seen the girls swarming Ichigo, all asking him to dance with them or to just pay attention to them. The captain had wanted no part in it but couldn't refuse the dance invitations, complying until he was pretty sure he had danced with every girl at the ball. Some had been enjoyable, Hermione and Ginny in example, who had only asked him to dance because he was so good at it, but others, older students mostly, had asked him to leave with them, for 'late night fun.' He shuddered at the memory. He had been tempted to tell them he was gay just to make them leave him alone. He had never had such interests in the female body and was not about to just because some girls half his age propositioned him. He knew that Matsumoto and Yoruichi only said such things to him because they were teasing him and didn't mean anything by it, but he was gay and perfectly happy being so. He had actually broken down and told a few of the more enthusiastic ones that he was already dating someone and had no intention of being with anyone else, a true statement and one he refused to expand on. He was not going to tell them he was dating Toshiro, since said person did not want others knowing, but he thought it would get them off his back. It had for some and for the ones it didn't he avoided.

Ichigo shuddered again, trying to rid himself of the memories. He really didn't like girls chasing after him with stars in their eyes. At least in Soul Society the women chasing him at least saw more than just his appearance, they sought him for his power and position. They were also older, despite how they appeared, which was better than having hormonal _teenagers_ after him. He thankfully did not have many women after him in Soul Society, mainly because he had not shown interest in pursuing a relationship with anyone, regardless of gender. He wondered if Matsumoto had told anyone about his feelings for Toshiro, if she had it would explain how some of the male shinigami had been giving him strange looks. His preferences were not public, not that many would show their displeasure at anything the famous Winter war hero did, in fear of what he might do in retribution. Especially when said war hero was a captain of the Gotei 13, with political power to add to his already huge spiritual power. He doubted there was much prejudice against homosexuals, considering there were several high ranked shinigami he was pretty sure fell in that category, Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku just two examples. Ichigo was also pretty sure vice captain Hisagi was too, he _did _have the number 69 tattooed on his _face_ and Ichigo highly doubted he had it done without knowing what the number 'suggested.'

He turned back to his boyfriend, who had been watching the various emotions cross over his face with interest and stood, his breakfast long finished. He led the way to 'their' classroom, where he had already brought a few things to make it more comfortable to stay in for a few hours. He sat down in the plush couch he had managed to transfigure from some of the desks and grabbed the wrapped box sitting next to it, holding it out to Toshiro.

Toshiro eyed the package dubiously, it looked harmless enough, it was wrapped in dark green paper with a dark red ribbon tied in a bow. He took it from Ichigo and sat next to him, pulling off the ribbon and removing the lid of the package. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared down at what appeared to be a block of ice in the shape of an animal curled up. He turned to Ichigo who just said, "Take it out." He complied and removed the piece of ice, setting it on his lap. He was, of course, surprised when the ice trembled and cracked. The cracks spider-webbed out and shattered, falling away from the small creature curled in a ball inside.

The creature shivered slightly and uncurled to stretch. It appeared to be some breed of fox, with long white fur that strangely shone dark blue when light hit it. It turned to Toshiro, fixing midnight blue eyes on him for a moment before it leant forwards to brush its head against his hand.

Toshiro turned huge teal eyes on Ichigo, who was grinning, "What is it?"

Ichigo chuckled, completely enjoying his reaction to his present, "A Giant Glacier Fox kit. Merry Christmas Tosh."

Toshiro was still gaping at him; at least he was, until the fox kit butted against his hand, demanding to be petted. He complied, petting the creature absently as he turned back to his boyfriend, "A fox kit? Where did you get it? What is a Giant Glacier Fox?"

"I got it from a store in Hogsmeade. It wasway out of the way, took me a while to find it. Glad I did. Giant Glacier Foxes are rare, I was surprised they had them, but I thought it would be perfect for you. They're born into solid pieces of ice and if you want one to bond to you, you need to be the first one to touch it. It's rare to get one that hasn't been touched by a person or the mother so I was lucky to find it. It's just a baby now but it'll be pretty big when its full grown, it's shoulders will be taller than you, it's where they get the 'giant' in their name. They can also track spirit pressures, which I thought would be useful, you can have it help out in your division." He gave a smirk when Toshiro smiled a little at the thought that his new pet would be able to hunt down Matsumoto when she refused to work.

"So it'll be able to come back to Soul Society?"

Ichigo smirked wider; Toshiro was definitely going to make good use of his pet. "Yep. So can Kuro. I intend to use her for passing messages; she's as good at finding people as the Hell Butterflies. I thought she'd like it too, lots of messages to send, it'd keep her busy which she likes."

Toshiro nodded, still floored by his gift. That Ichigo would give _him_ a magical creature as a gift; much less one so rare, instead of keeping it for himself, considering how much he liked animals it was a very generous gift.

"What are you going to name it?"

Toshiro looked down at it and rolled it on its back, it was female. He ruffled her neck fur, making her growl softly, and said, "Mizore."

Ichigo nodded with a small smile and reached a hand towards her, stopping a few inches away for her to allow him.

She looked up at Toshiro and he nodded, figuring she needed his permission before allowing anyone to lay hands on her. She lowered her head and reached forward, placing her head under Ichigo's calloused palm.

He scratched her head and then under her chin with gentle fingers. He smiled softly at her and she relaxed before he withdrew his hand. Her ears perked up and she rose to climb over to his lap to resume her petting. He gave a soft laugh and did as she wished, turning to Toshiro he explained, "Giant Glacier Foxes are very protective, they won't let you touch them or their owners unless the owner allows it. She sees that I'm not a threat to her or you so she likes me I guess. She will mainly just listen to you, she might allow a few select others to command her, but she will always listen to you over anyone else. She will be completely loyal to you, though she might trust others, like me."

Toshiro had a feeling that Ichigo was already one of the people she would listen to, only placing his orders second to Toshiro's own. He rather liked that thought, since it seemed only right considering Ichigo was the one who gave her to Toshiro. Then he remembered his own gift and picked it up from where he had left it on the opposite end of the couch.

Ichigo gestured for Mizore to go back to Toshiro as he took the offered present. The fox complied and he set the package wrapped in silver paper with red flowers on his lap. He tore back the paper and lifted the rolled up fabric inside. It unrolled as he raised it, revealing a black coat. He was unsure what the black fabric was until he saw the scale patterns around the shoulders and collar, he turned to Toshiro with an eyebrow raised.

Toshiro saw the slight light of recognition in Ichigo mocha eyes and nodded in confirmation, "Yes its dragon hide. Made from the hide of a rare black Japanese Imperial. I found it at an odd little shop in Hogsmeade where they sold random magical items, this was one of them. I was sure it would fit you and thought it would be useful. It repels most spells and can harden to become armor. It reacts to the wearer's will so it can become like metal to repel physical attacks or glossy to repel magical and possibly reiatsu attacks."

Ichigo stared at the dragon hide coat for a moment in awe, it could change properties? That would be incredibly useful in battles, leave it to Toshiro to find something so practical while still suiting a person. He stood and pulled the coat on, fastening the buttons to see that it fit him perfectly; melding with his frame and comfortable to move in, considering it buttoned down to his waist. It also seemed to keep in heat, he felt comfortably warm even though the room temperature had not changed.

"It also keeps the wearer's body temperature comfortable." It was almost as if Toshiro was reading his thoughts, or maybe his face was just more expressive than usual. "It will keep out external temperatures and lower or raise the wearer's temperature until they are comfortable. So you will still be comfortable if it is extremely hot or cold outside if you wear it."

Ichigo smiled a bit at that, thinking of how it suited them. Toshiro preferred colder temperatures than others and the coat would allow Ichigo to be around the smaller captain without discomfort. He gestured for Toshiro to lean forward, which he did, and gave him a kiss. He drew back after several seconds and grinned at the flushed face of his boyfriend, "Thanks."

Toshiro could hear the honesty in Ichigo's tone and nodded, petting Mizore to try and avoid the fact that his face was bright red, which was becoming a common occurrence around his boyfriend.

Ichigo sat next to Toshiro again and ran his hands down his coat, feeling the difference in textures between the parts that looked like leather and the parts that were more scale. He watched Toshiro rough Mizore's head between his hands and gave a soft smile. "She'll grow real fast." Toshiro turned to him curiously and he explained, "Giant Glacier Foxes grow extremely fast. She'll only be this size for a few days, and then she'll double her size nearly every week until she reaches full size. She may grow faster or slower, depending on her strength. The faster she grows, the stronger she will be. I have a feeling she'll be one of the faster growers." He smiled at the amazed look his pale companion turned on his pet, it would be interesting to watch her increasing size.

They spent the rest of the day together, reading books they found interesting in the library, doing any homework they had, playing with Mizore, and simply being around each other. They left the room only for meals before they separated for the night, unable to go to the other's dorm. Mizore followed her master up to the Griffindor dorm, watching as he dressed for the night and curling up at the end of his bed to sleep; he gave her a tired smile and allowed sleep to take him.

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><p>The captains enjoyed the rest of the break together, hanging out in the empty classroom or taking walks outside thanks to Ichigo's insulated coat, Mizore always trotting at Toshiro's heels. None of the students staying for the break saw much of the pair, mainly only for meals before they disappeared again, the strange new white blur following.<p>

By the time the other students returned to the castle, Mizore had grown as Ichigo said she would, doubling her size in the week off from classes. She was now stood at a little over a foot at the shoulder and nearly two feet long. Ichigo suggested that Toshiro keep her in the Forbidden Forest when she next grew, so as to not draw attention, he was pretty sure students weren't allowed to have pet foxes, especially ones as large as Mizore was going to be. Toshiro agreed with him and sent his fox to the woods, training her to come when he released a particular type of reiatsu. He had already taught her to track people based on their reiatsu, having her practice by finding Ichigo when he only released a tiny amount, and she was a very fast learner. He had also taught her some basic commands, as well as commands in fighting, teaching her to listen to him alone instead of her aggressive instincts, unless he allowed her to act as she wished. She was incredibly loyal to him, as Ichigo had said, and would allow him to do as he wished with her and would obey his commands no matter what they may be. Toshiro actually had to be careful of what he asked of her, since she would attempt to please him even if the task was beyond her abilities and could harm her. She would do whatever her precious master asked of her without hesitation, and he was precious to her, she would watch him at all times when near him and he knew she was watching him from a vantage point in the Forest whenever he was outside.

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><p>Since Toshiro had sent Mizore to the Forest before the main student body returned, no one noticed his new pet. A few had noticed Ichigo's new coat and many admired it. The few that recognized the material were speechless, dragon hide was expensive as well as rare and not many had the nerve to wear it, they wondered where he had gotten it and how he had afforded it. Hagrid had looked slightly miffed at it, considering it was made from the skin of a powerful magical beast, but couldn't do anything about it.<p>

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><p>None of the teachers noticed Mizore strangely enough, despite the fact that several were present during the break, Toshiro assumed it was because the fox tended to stay at his heels and moved very fast when not standing still. She had stayed in the Forest obediently, though he and Ichigo made sure to visit her every day to make sure she was well and not lonely. She was thriving in the thick woods, not having any problems with the various other creatures that inhabited the area; her instincts all she needed to hunt and survive.<p>

Toshiro was still surprised when she continued to grow at an astonishing rate, reaching his waist after the second week and his shoulder at the beginning of January. Ichigo would chuckle every time they would visit her during the weekends and she would be sizably larger every time. By the time February rolled around she was full grown, her shoulders reaching several inches higher than Toshiro's head and her head hitting five feet. She still acted like a kit though, pouncing on Toshiro when he arrived unless he looked particularly tense and nuzzling him, she would nudge him with her nose when she wanted attention and would curl around him protectively when there was something she thought was threatening him.

She had demonstrated her power when she was walking through the Forest with the captain pair and they had come too close to the acromantula's territory. Giant spiders had swarmed around them and Mizore had stood between them and her master. Her fur had turned into blades of ice that she used as a shield against the spiders' bites and as projectiles that she shot at the arachnids like darts using her long tail. She had fought off several before Ichigo and Toshiro managed to push them back with magic and retreat from the area. The giant fox had immediately turned to Toshiro once they stopped and began checking him for injuries, crooning worriedly. He sat on the forest floor and allowed her to circle him until she was satisfied he was uninjured and lay down behind him, her long body curled around him. Ichigo sat next to her head and gazed into her eyes lovingly, whispering sweet words and compliments about how wonderful she was. She seemed content with Toshiro simple scratch under her chin and approving nod before she turned back to Ichigo to revel in the attention.

She had quickly come to realize that Ichigo was far more obvious about how he felt and Toshiro much more reserved, it was why she enjoyed the small signs of approval from her master and would instead turn to her master's beloved when she wanted compliments and loving attention. She loved her master dearly and treated her master's beloved as her own, almost as a second master, though Toshiro would always be her number one.

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><p>Ichigo had ignored all of the attention he had gained from the Yule Ball, instead focusing on his studies and his boyfriend. Fleur had looked huffy when he had ignored her save for basic greetings and menial conversations when she approached him. She seemed puzzled that he treated the same as everyone else, completely unaffected by her quarter-Veela nature. He barely even made eye contact when speaking with her, only doing so when it was required and looking at his surroundings when not required.<p>

The girls and boys easily noticed his disinterest in the French champion with some confusion. The girls seemed pleased by it, but upset when he treated the same as her, and the boys happy that he wasn't going to steal her or any of the other popular girls from them.

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><p>Ichigo truly did not care about any of the children at the school, they were just something he would have to tolerate until the mission was finished. A few were not that bad, tolerable even, like Hermione and Harry. Ginny was also pleasant to speak to, much more mature than her older brother, who was much too hysterical for his tastes. The rest of the students were simply too loud for him, obsessed with the competition and the champions. <em>For what is supposed to be a friendly competition, this really has turned into a contest. Everyone's obsessed with their school being the 'best' even though all the schools are different. <em>Ichigo sighed to himself when the volume of the Great Hall rose another octave at Dumbledore's announcement that the second task would occur later that day. He looked up to give Toshiro a despairing look and gave a wry smile when he saw his expression mirrored on his boyfriend's face. Ichigo shook his head and left the room, trying to save himself from the headache that he was sure to get if he stayed any longer.

Ichigo dropped into the couch in their classroom with a grunt, only to drop his head to rest on the back of the couch. He felt Toshiro sink into the cushion next to him and sighed, "I can't wait to go home, these kids are giving me a headache."

Toshiro chuckled; usually he was the one who had problems with the volume levels of the younger generation but apparently Ichigo had spent enough time in Soul Society that he was not as immune as he had been when he was alive. "Come," He said as he dragged his boyfriend up, "Let's go for a walk by the lake." Ichigo groaned but complied, hurrying to his dorm to grab his coat. Toshiro put on his as well, more like a sweater, but enough for him, he liked the cold.

They walked along the edge of the lake towards the docks, simply enjoying each other's company when Ichigo stopped and walked to the edge of the dock, looking down into the foggy water. Toshiro walked up beside him to see what he was looking at, "What is it?" Knowing Ichigo usually had a reason for everything he did, no matter how strange.

Ichigo turned to him briefly before turning his attention back to the water, "There are things down there. I can sense them."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow and expanded his senses to the lake below and nodded, there were life signs coming from the water, "Yes, Hermione did say there is a legend that a giant squid lives in the lake."

Ichigo shook his head, "Not a squid, smaller things, lots of them. There might be a squid but it might be too deep for me to sense. I'm gonna go look." He began to strip off his clothing, laying it in a pile several feet from the towers looming over the docks, he didn't want anyone taking them when they arrived for the task. Toshiro looked at him, puzzled, but then shrugged, if Ichigo was curious he wasn't going to leave it alone until he found out what he wanted to find out. He shrugged out of his clothes as well and set them next to Ichigo's. ichigo just gave him a mischievous smirk and said, "Good thing we learned the bubble-head charm during the break eh?" before he dove into the lake. Toshiro just shook his head at his boyfriend's antics and leapt in after him, intent on finding out just what was living in the lake.

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><p>Students and staff arriving at the lake for the second task were greeted with a curious sight; a huge white fox sitting several meters away from the docks. No one approached the beast and glanced at it fearfully, being quiet so as to not alert it. It ignored them, its full attention focused on the lake. It sat rigid, dark blue eyes set on the dark water and snowy ears alert for any slight sound.<p>

Hagrid gasped when he realized just what they were looking at, vaguely hearing Madame Maxine do the same. "My word," He muttered, gaining the attention of the students standing around him.

Neville looked up at him, fear and curiosity battling for supremacy on his face, "What is it Hagrid? Do you know what that is?"

He nodded, eyes fixed on the sleek white form of the fox that shone dark blue when the light hit it, "Aye, it's a Giant Glacier Fox."

"A what?" Malfoy asked loudly, having nowhere near the amount of knowledge about magical beasts as his peers, though since the others around him looked just as confused, he figured it wasn't something they were taught.

"A Giant Glacier Fox, a magical breed of foxes. Very rare, very hard to obtain. They bond to the first living thing that touches them, only listen to that one person or thing. They're almost impossible to find, or even see. Wonder wot it's doin 'ere." The fox twitched an ear towards him as if it knew what he was saying but didn't turn away from the lake.

"Does that mean its owner is here?" Neville was more curious and less afraid now, if it was a pet who could it belong to?

"Perhaps. Dunno who tho'."

"But why would it be staring at the lake like that? And guarding clothes?" Luna observed.

The others looked at the fox to see it was indeed standing over piles of clothing. She made to step towards it and got a few feet away before it growled a warning. When she took another step it whipped its head around to fix her with freezing midnight blue eyes. Luna retreated and the fox turned back to the lake almost impatiently.

Dumbledore looked slightly troubled from the fox's presence but attempted to start anyway. He was interrupted by the sound of splashing and a happy yip from the Glacier Fox. Everyone turned to the docks as two figures pulled themselves onto the dock.

"Told you there were things down there, didn't expect them to be such nasty little buggers. They were kinda pathetic though don't you think? Break a finger or two and they swim off howling. Wimps." That was the taller person, whose hair was an orangish brown and plastered to his forehead.

"That's because you broke every finger of every one that lay hands on you, I don't blame them for fleeing after the first six tried to stop you." The shorter replied, his white hair covering his eyes until he pushed it out of the way.

"Wonder what they're there for? They don't look like plant eaters to me, more like they'd eat me if they could!"

"They probably eat the fish in the lake, or whatever else they can get their hands on."

"Well the one's whose hands I broke might have a bit of trouble then, serves them right. As if I was gonna let them strangle me!"

"Ichigo….."

The taller stopped his rant and turned to the wide-eyed crowd of people who were staring at the transfers. "Yo?"

"What were you doing in the lake?" That was McGonagall, always concerned about student's well-being.

"Swimming." Ichigo just stated.

"But _why_?"

"Because I wanted to know what was living in it?" Ichigo clearly saw nothing wrong with taking a dip in the middle of February.

They just stared at the two boys in confused silence. The teachers were completely puzzled over why they would swim in the lake in the first place, despite their being curious, they could have just looked it up in the library. The students were just as confused but were more focused on them as opposed to their reasons. The girls were drooling shamelessly and the boys were divided between being flustered at the state the boys were in, and being envious.

The transfers were built to what seemed an absurd level to the wizards, water dripped down their musclular torsos to stop at their shorts that were plastered to their legs. Both had well muscled bodies, very defined chests and actual washboard abs in Ichigo's case while Toshiro's were more subtle, and muscled arms and legs. Then there were the scars, both had large scars that went diagonally across their chests and numerous other scars, mostly appearing to be from blades although they had a few that looked to be from serious burns. Their scars covered their torsos as well as their arms and legs, though those were smaller. Ichigo had claw like scars wrapping around one of his sides and several small circular scars from what must have been a monster digging its claws into him. Toshiro's scars were not as numerous or as major but were still present, he had one that looked like a monster had sunk its teeth into him, as there was a crescent of marks going from his right side almost all the way to his left before rounding back to his right. Ichigo also had a tattoo over his heart, a crescent moon made of black flames with a white skull mask resting against it. The mask was frightening, despite its just being a tattoo, it had sharp forward pointing horns and two thick red lines going down through the eye holes.

Ichigo shook the water out of his hair and walked down the dock before turning towards the giant fox, Toshiro right behind him. Before anyone could warn him he had reached the massive beast and leant down to grab one of the piles of clothing. The fox did not growl at him, did not even pin its ears back, it made a soft crooning noise at him and licked him, making him chuckle and scratch it under the chin. It stood when Toshiro reached it and grabbed his clothes, he held out one hand to it and it put its nose under his palm. "Good girl Mizore," was all he said and jerked his hand perpendicular to the ground and towards him, the fox sat obediently and watched as the two changed.

Ichigo dragged on his clothing, which was pretty difficult considering he was wet, and pulled his dragon hide coat on top, shivering slightly as the fabric raised his temperature from the cold water. He looked back and saw that the crowd was staring with open mouths, "What?"

"The Giant Glacier Fox….." Neville started.

"What about her? She's Toshiro's." He smirked a bit when the attention turned to Toshiro who had managed to get his clothing on and was petting Mizore absently.

"Where did he get it?"

"I got _her_ as a Christmas present. Ichigo got her for me." He almost growled when they called Mizore an 'it' and gave her the signal to lie down. She obeyed after a small growl at the crowd.

They turned back to Ichigo and he answered the unspoken question, "I found a store in Hogsmeade that had a frozen kit and bought it. He's had her since Christmas, she's finally done growing. Can't wait to get her home, that'll surprise everyone." He grinned to himself at what the other shinigami would think of Toshiro's new pet. He looked up and raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it past time for the next task to start?"

That startled them enough for them to remember what they were there to do, which _wasn't _to stare at the transfers once again, and Dumbledore started talking about what their task would entail. Ichigo smirked and walked a few feet away from the crowd with Toshiro and Mizore. The Giant Fox lay down with a sigh and the captains sat in front of her, leaning back into her warm body like a pillow. She didn't seem to mind, resting her head next to Ichigo and laying her tail over Toshiro's lap. Ichigo smirked at Toshiro as they laid back to watch the next task, ignoring the curious looks thrown their way once the champions entered the lake, they knew what the water held but weren't about to enlighten them. They would see how they dealt with the monsters in the lake on their own, without any outside help, it was what the champions were supposed to be preparing for the past few months after all.

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><p>So yay! It's done! I don't feel like writing for a while... Not sure how long it'll last. I definitely won't be writing any more today. Who knows when I'll update next.<p>

Review please. I really like them

And now I'm leaving so I can scream at the headache I'm starting to get.

Maverick14th out. Hope you all survive your evil Monday. I feel like I'll be lucky if I survive the week. Whatever. Ciao everyone.


	13. Chapter 13

**So yeah, I'm back after way too long of a hiatus. I didn't notice how long it had been since I updated this story and want to apologize for making you wait. Second I just want to say how disgusted at myself for how short this chapter is. I held off uploading the new chapter because I only had about a thousand words written and liked where I stopped the chapter but was convinced that I had to write more before I could update. I've decided against it because this really is just a filler chapter to end the 2nd Task and transition into the 3rd Task, so it's short. I know.**

**Now that I've got this chapter up and out of the way I can focus on the last task and the end of the story. Sorry for those who want it to be longer but it was planned for this to only take place in Goblet of Fire and I'm going to keep it that way. Ichigo and Toshiro ARE going to be leaving at the end of the Tournament. Get used to the idea now because I'm not changing it. Sorry.**

**Anyway here it is, I don't own anything but my imagination and my laptop. Enjoy.**

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><p>"Bored."<p>

Toshiro turned away from the lake to see his boyfriend, face down in Mizore's sleek fur, to raise a snowy eyebrow, wondering if he'd heard right. "What?"

"Bored." Ichigo didn't bother lifting his head up from the fox's side, making his voice rather muffled.

Toshiro glanced at their surroundings, the spectators still watching the lake for any signs of stirring though a few snuck glances their way. It had been over ten minutes since the champions had entered the lake and the crowd was still watching eagerly, Ichigo obviously couldn't be attentive for that long and had seemed to be taking a nap after only five minutes of the task beginning. "It's only been ten minutes Ichigo," _was Ichigo's attention span always this short? Well I suppose he was kept busy back in Soul Society, captains don't get breaks very often._

"Bored." This time Ichigo actually mustered up the energy to pull away from Mizore's side long enough to mutter out his response before dropping back into the furry warmth.

Toshiro just snorted at his how ridiculous his boyfriend was being, "then do something about it idiot."

And Ichigo did, but not anything anyone could have predicted. He lifted his wand from its sheath on his arm and pointed it away from the lake, still not moving his face from Mizore's pelt, and muttered, "_Reducto._"

The boulder he had been blindly aiming at disintegrated into powder with a rumble. Toshiro just stared, aware that a fair number of the crowd had turned and witnessed Ichigo's spell, before he turned his stunned gaze down to where Ichigo was _still_ buried in Mizore's side, "What was that for?! What did that boulder ever do to you?!"

"Oh the rock had it coming," Ichigo muttered into the snowy fur, snuggling even deeper into the soft thickness he practically whined, "Bored."

"You are ridiculous," Toshiro muttered, shaking his head, "What's gotten into you?"

Ichigo slowly, almost carefully, turned to face his boyfriend and said very slowly, "Bored."

Toshiro just threw up his hand, completely ignoring the people still staring at him and his unbelievable secret boyfriend. Thankfully he was saved from responding by a splash from the lake, the first champion had returned.

Ichigo didn't even bother moving, knowing exactly which of the champions it was and feeling no desire to congratulate them. He did listen for the next few splashes that announced the return of the other champions. He stilled when the period between the third champion and the last stretched for far longer than the time between the rest, Harry was still in the lake.

"Something's happening down there," Toshiro muttered as Ichigo rose and twisted around to face the water, "He should be back by now, and his presence is panicked."

Ichigo focused on the water, trusting that Toshiro knew what he could sense; his reiatsu sensing was always better than Ichigo's own, he had too much power for the finer focused abilities.

"He's coming," Ichigo had seen the slightest ripple and now could sense the youngest champion rapidly approaching the surface. "He must have used _Ascendio_, smart move considering he's got more than the one target with him."

Ichigo was proven right seconds after his statement as Harry burst out of the water, holding a drenched Ron and Gabrielle in both arms and landing hard on the deck only to be surrounded immediately.

Ichigo and Toshiro were satisfied with watching for now, seeing that Harry was being cared for, they would offer their congratulations later when the boy wasn't being mobbed.

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><p>"Why didn't you tell me what was in the lake? It would have been nice to know about the Grindylows <em>before<em> I was attacked by them."

Ichigo and Toshiro raised matching eyebrows at the boy's outburst, that wasn't what they expected when they stopped him in the hall the day after the Second Task.

"Why would we tell you?" Harry gaped at Ichigo's completely honest face, nonplussed.

"It could have _helped _me!"

"That's not what we're here for Harry; you are supposed to be getting through these Tasks on your own with no outside help. None of the other champions knew about the Grindylows and they managed fine. You were lucky on the First Task that you had prior notice about the dragons but normally you wouldn't even get that much information. This is meant to be a fair competition, all the champions on equal footing so you all have an equal chance at winning."

Harry grumbled but knew Toshiro was right, it was only fair. "So do you know what the last Task is? I wonder if the other champions know and I'm the only one out of the loop…"

Ichigo shook his head with a slight smile, "No idea. I think the Headmasters and Headmistress are the only ones who know this time, and there won't be any sharing this time, you're all going in blind."

"Brilliant."

The taller student ruffled Harry's dark hair with a warm face, "don't worry so much, you'll be fine. Just be ready for anything just in case. You can handle it Harry, you're used to unpredictable things right?"

Harry scowled at Ichigo's smug face but couldn't keep the small smile off his face, "Yeah you're right. I can just think of it as another unplanned adventure, except this time I'm on my own."

"You'll be fine Harry, you aren't alone, we're with you, we just can't be right with you during the Task. But don't worry, if something does go wrong we'll be there to help, promise." Toshiro didn't like seeing that downtrodden look on Harry's face, the boy was usually so bright, he didn't like seeing him be dragged down.

"Thanks guys." Harry was really grateful that he met the two transfers, they were really great guys, strange and intimidating appearances beside, and he was sure going to miss them when they left.

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><p><strong>So there it is. Horribly short isn't it? It's been forever since I wrote anything so short. Next chapter will definitely not be like this, it'll probably be one of my longer chapters because there's alot to fit in.<br>**

**So next chapter: the Third Task. At least the beginning of it, though I'll probably have the whole Task in. And then after that will be the epilogue.**

**Yeah that's right, this only has a few more chapters left. Sorry but I'm going to enjoy this finally being finished so I can work on other things I've been neglecting.**

**SO. Review please? I really really like them and I's appreciate reading what you all think should happen in the Third Task. And before you ask NO Voldemort will not be killed, Shinigami aren't allowed to take the lives of mortals, no matter how un-human-like he is. I already have some ideas for next chapter but more wouldn't hurt. Especially since when I get suggestions it motivates me to write more, so you'll get the next chapter sooner. *nudge nudge wink wink* So review! It's short and you want more right?! So tell me what you want!**

**Oh yeah and cookies for those who caught the Sherlock reference**


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